Trollhunters: Never Alone
by books4life99
Summary: When Jim’s older sister, Monica Lake, comes back from college, she is surprised to hear from her mother that Jim hasn’t been himself lately. That he’s been getting into trouble. When she discovers why, she receives the adventure of a lifetime.
1. Coming Home

**Disclaimer: I do not own Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia. The only character I own is Monica.**

I was so glad to be done with college. My mom and my little brother, Jim, watched me graduate a couple weeks ago. I quit my college job and I'm now going to move back to Arcadia to live with Mom and Jim till I find an apartment for myself and a new job. I missed them so much over my college years. What's even better, I get to surprise Jim on his 16th birthday!

I arrived the night before his birthday. Luckily, Jim was asleep, so Mom and I were able to bring all the boxes up to my old room. We somehow managed to keep the whole me moving back home a secret from Jim.

The next day, Mom and I got up early. In the bathroom, I brushed out my long, straight red hair and my blue eyes, the same as my brother's, stared back at me. Many people say that my mother and I look a lot alike, but my mother says that while I have inherited her red hair, my facial structure was similar to Jim's. I threw on a dark blue long sleeved shirt accompanied with black wide leg pants . Mom made her special birthday pancakes for Jim. Mom told me to wait down here while she woke up Jim.

When she came back down, she ushered me to the stairs of the basement and told me to wait there. She was going to show Jim her present, then she was going to lead Jim to me.

While I was waiting, I noticed a flash of blue, but it disappeared before I could get a good look. Must've been my imagination. Then, the door opened and I was about to yell happy birthday to Jim, but I noticed Jim wasn't with Mom.

"I'm sorry, Monica. Toby needed Jim's help for something." She explained. I sat at the foot of the stairs and tried to hold back my tears. I knew that Jim hated celebrating his birthday. This was the day Dad left us.

"It's okay. I know that Jim doesn't like celebrating his birthday. I just wanted to make him happy on this day. It's been tough being away from you two during college." I said letting a few tears loose.

"I know, sweetie, but if Jim knew you were here. He would freak out. He's missed you so much. Don't forget that we both love you." Mom said kissing my forehead.

"Thanks, Mom. How's it been going with you and Jim?" I wondered.

"Jim's been distancing himself lately. A couple days ago, he got arrested for breaking into a museum." Mom said.

"What?" I exclaimed. That doesn't sound like Jim at all.

"I know. I don't know what's been going on with him. He's been missing classes, then I heard that he caused damage in the Nuñez home for throwing a party! Monica, please. Once Jim knows you're here, please keep an eye on him." Mom begged.

"Of course, Mom. That's older sisters do. I'll make sure my little brother doesn't get hurt." I promised while hugging her. Then, Mom left for work. This left me unnerved. Jim was usually such a good kid. What could drive him to do these things? Where was my sweet little brother that would always watch out for us? I finished unpacking and decided that it would be best to distract myself for the meantime. Suddenly, I thought I heard the basement stairs creaking and I was about to go investigate when my phone started ringing. It was my mother.

"Yeah, Mom?" I asked.

"Could you pick Jim up from school? I'm working late tonight, but we are still planning on having a celebration." Mom explained.

"Of course!" I exclaimed looked at the clock and gasped. School was already out. "Mom, school's already out though."

"Don't worry. I told him someone would pick him up. Bye, honey." Mom said and the phone hung up.

I smiled, grabbing my bike, then rode to Jim's school, but when I got there, I noticed that Jim was being attacked by a very large bird! What the flipping heck was that?! I stood there so shocked then snapped out of it. My brother was not going to harm him on my watch. I started running towards him at fulling speed.

"JIM!" I exclaimed. He looked over to me and his eyes widened.

"MONICA!" He shouted, then he was grabbed by the bird. They flew up into the air where a storm was brewing. No, you are not going to kill my brother.

I found some rocks and began throwing them at the bird. It didn't seem to affect it at all.

"For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command because I really really don't want to die!" Jim shouted. Suddenly, Jim was surrounded by a glowing blue light and armor appeared on him. WHAT THE HECK? Then, I saw Toby riding his bike with a huge stone creature with green hair following close behind him!

"He's up there! How do we get up there?" Toby yelled.

"No wings." The creature said. Toby turned and saw me.

"Oh. Hi, Monica! MONICA! What are you doing here?" Toby yelled.

"Forget about that! We have to save Jim!" I exclaimed. We hurried as fast could. Then, Jim and the bird were struck by lightning and Jim started falling. No! No, Jim! I can't loose you!

"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" Toby yelled to the creature. It ran extremely fast and it was able to catch my little brother.

"JIM! JIM!" I cried out discarding the bike and carefully taking Jim from the creature's arms. He coughed and looked at me and I cried with relief.

"Monica?" He weakly questioned.

"I'm here, Jim." I said. He looked over at the creature and it said, "Gotcha."

"Yeah, Aaarrrgghh!" Toby praised. Then, the large bird crashed into the canal and broke into stone pieces.

"This is why I hate birthdays." Jim stated. He looked over at me and said, "I suppose I better tell you what's going on."

"You better." I demanded. He laughed and began to tell me everything.


	2. Trolls Exist

"So, let me get this straight. There are trolls living among us and you're their protector? The Trollhunter? The first human one?" I questioned looking at Jim. He nodded, so I continued, "You are facing a threat known as Bular, who is the son of Gunmar."

"Pretty much." Jim concluded. This was so much to take in. If Mom ever found out about this, she would freak out.

"So, these two trolls are Blinky and Aaarrrgghh. They are your friends and have been helping you train how to fight. Is there anyone else I should be introduced too?" I wondered.

"Oh right. We also have another troll to introduce you too. He's actually living in our basement to protect us. His name is Draal and he is son of the previous Trollhunter. I'll introduce you to him once we get home." Jim explained. I slowly nodded not quite liking the idea that a troll is living in our basement. In our basement! Does that mean that he heard Mom and I's entire conversation on the stairs? Jim and I departed the others and headed home where I would soon meet this Draal.

"I should warn you. It takes a while to warm up to Draal. He's a good guy, but he is kind of intimidating." Jim said before we entered the house. I nodded and we entered our home. Mom was still at work, but she would be home soon so that we could go out for Jim's birthday. We walked down to the basement.

"Draal?" Jim called out. Suddenly, a huge blue troll walked out into the open. It took all of my will power to not scream right then and there.

"Who is this fleshbag? I saw her come into the basement earlier. I was about to attack her, then your mom mentioned she was your sister." Draal said. So, he was there this morning. The flash of blue!

"You were here this morning?" Jim exclaimed looking at me completely surprised.

"Yeah. That was the other surprise Mom mentioned, but you took off before she could bring you to the basement." I admitted.

Jim looked at me with sadness in his eyes, "Monica, I'm so sorry. Toby said that there was an emergency in Trollmarket, so I went to investigate. It turned out to be a surprise party. If I had known you were here..."

"It's okay. I understand." I interrupted pulling him into a hug. We heard a cough and we realized that Draal was still there. We quickly let go of each other and Jim scratched the back of his head.

"Oh right. Draal, this is my older sister, Monica Lake. Monica, this is Draal." Jim introduced. Draal nodded his head in acknowledgement and I gave him a nervous smile. Then, we heard the door open and close. Mom was back.

"Monica, Jim! I'm home! Time for celebration!" Mom called. We said good-bye to Draal and headed up the stairs. I was still unnerved by all of this. Jim looked a bit concerned as he looked at me.

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" He questioned.

"I promise that I won't tell anyone." I swore.

Jim embraced me and whispered, "Thank-you." We ran upstairs and found Mom looking at us curiously.

"What were you two doing?" She wondered.

"We were telling each other ghost stories." I lied. Jim nodded his head in agreement. When we were younger, we did tell each other ghost stories in the basement. Mom smiled and said,

"I'm glad you two are having fun, now lets go and celebrate Jim's 16th birthday!" Mom exclaimed hugging us.

We were about to go out of the house, but I said, "Hold on! I almost forgot your birthday present." I ran up the stairs and grabbed the present on my bed. I ran back down and handed it to him.

"Happy Birthday, Jim." I said. Jim grabbed the present and opened it. Inside the present, laid a photo of the three of us before I went off to college and $50. I knew that Jim wanted a Vespa and I would've loved to get him one, but sadly, I didn't have the money for it. So, I thought that I could help him save up for one.

"I know it's no Vespa, but I will help in any way I can to get you one." I said. Jim hugged me and whispered,

"Thank-you, Monica. You are the best sister ever. I'm so glad you're home."


	3. Young Atlas Part I

It's been a couple of days since discovering the existence of trolls. Tonight, Mom had to work late, so Draal and Jim decided to train. It wasn't long before Jim was on the ground complaining that he broke his butt.

Over the past few days, I've felt extremely self-conscious knowing that Draal was in the basement practically 24/7 and even more so when Jim goes to school and Mom heads to work which meant that I had to be alone with him. I could tell Draal was also uneasy about this, so I tried to lessen the tension by teaching him a couple board games. I learned very quickly that Draal is not the best with chess and he accidentally ripped apart the board game Sorry: the Sweet Game of Revenge.

"Were this an actual battle, Trollhunter, you would have just been deprived of your right leg, three fingers, and your gronk-nuks." Draal said.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just a little distracted tonight." Jim apologized. What would have him so distracted? He got up and continued fighting.

"Bular will use your distraction as an opportunity to cleave your head from your shoulders." Draal explained.

"Oh." Jim said.

"What has you distracted this night?" Draal wondered helping Jim up.

"You wouldn't understand." Jim said.

Suddenly, he was flipped backward by Draal and pinned to the ground, "I am the son of the former Trollhunter, Trollhunter."

"I'm a little preoccupied about kissing Claire." Jim confessed. I burst out laughing,

"The Nunez girl? The same Nunez girl who's house you and Toby completely messed up?" I wondered not really believing it. Jim glared at me and responded,

"I did not destroy her house. Her baby brother, who's a changling by the way, did."

"I do not understand." Draal said.

"The school play, Romeo and Juliet. We're rehearsing the kissing scene and I have to kiss her tomorrow." Jim explained.

"I didn't know that you were in the school play or the fact that you got the part of Romeo. Congrats, bro." I teased, but I was also proud of him too. He's had a crush on Claire for ages. Maybe this play will help give my brother the courage to ask her out. Jim simply gave me his 'not helpful' face.

"Kissing? What is this kissing?" Draal wondered. Oh boy. I can't wait to hear how Jim explains this.

"When two people like each other, they put their mouths together, and depending on how much you like them, the longer the kiss. Sometimes for hours." Jim explained. Draal groaned,

"Disgusting. Killing sounds easier." I chuckled and Draal turned to me.

"Have you ever been... kissed?" He questioned. Now, it was my turn to be embarrassed.

"I have kissed someone before. My old boyfriend, Nate Matthews, but we broke up a couple years ago." I admitted. We started dating during our senior year, but it ended during my freshman year of college. One day, I went to go visit him at his college. I didn't tell him I was visiting because I wanted to surprise him. When I got there, I caught him kissing another girl. We broke up.

Jim knew I didn't like talking about him, so switched the topic back to the original, "Draal, Monica, I really like her. If I blow our first kiss, I might not a get a second or a third."

"You're afraid." Draal concluded.

"I know, I know. The first rule, always be afraid. But, that's with Trolls, not girls. Girls, are, like, the opposite of Trolls." Jim explained.

"Hmm. I once had similar stirrings for an Impure. I know of something that may help. If these 'girls' require you to not be afraid, then you need a Grit-Shaka." Draal said.

"Hello, girl right here people." I reminded them, but, of course, they ignored me. Typical.

"Is that a protein shake?" Jim wondered.

"A Grit-Shaka used by the Gumm-Gumms. If you where it, it banishes all cowardice. Makes you fierce and ready for battle." Draal explained.

"Hmm. You wouldn't happen to have one of these, would you?" Jim asked. This was not going to end well, but Jim promised me he wouldn't use it unless it was absolutely necessary.


	4. Young Atlas Part II

Since Jim left for school and Mom is at work, I decided that it was time to search for a job and apartments in the area. After about two hours, I got a call from Mom, "Hi, honey. How's the job and apartment search going?"

"So far, I'm considering working at the school. They have an opening for an English teacher." I explained.

"That's great! That means you will be able to see Jim a lot more. What have you found for apartments?" She asked.

"Nothing yet." I admitted.

"You know, you could just stay at home if you want. It would save you a lot of unnecessary money to spend." Mom reasoned. I thought about it for a moment. I would like to stay home, but I also want to experience what it would be like to be on my own. Don't get me wrong, I definitely got that at college. I'm just curious to what it would be like to have to not worry about classes or your roommate coming back late.

"I'll have to think about it." I said. We said good-bye, then I hung up the phone. Going online, I wrote my resume and sent it to the school hoping that I would get a chance to be the English teacher there. I think I have a good shot at getting the position. I did get a Bachelor's degree in Teaching.

A couple of hours later, I received a call from Toby, "Monica, come quick! It's Jim! He wore this necklace that Draal gave him and now he thinks he's unstoppable. He's going to face Bular as we speak! Meet Blinky, Aaarrrgghh, and I at the canal." Toby yelled then the phone hung up. I knew this would be a bad idea. I'm going to have some words with Draal later.

I ran to the garage, grabbing my bike, and rode into town. I saw the Toby at the entrance of the sewers.

"Okay. NotEnrique said that we would find him in the sewers. Monica and I will scout above while you and Aaarrrgghh search below." Toby said.

"Good idea." Blinky said, then we went our separate ways.

We ran through town calling out for Jim and trying to see through the holes of the sewer entrance. Then, we heard a loud bang.

"Jim, Jim?" Toby called.

"Jim, please answer us!" I yelled. We tried pulling open the sewer drain, but it wasn't budging, "Jim!" We called out at the same time.

"Toby, Monica! Where am I? What's going on?" Jim questioned from below. We were trying so desperately to get to him.

"We can't get it open!" I panicked. We kept pulling, then Toby shouted,

"For the glory of Merlin!" Then, the sewer drain popped open and the sunlight was able to shield Jim from Bular. At least, it would provide him some protection, but it won't last for long.

"Jim, grab my hand! Come on! You can do it!" Toby yelled. Jim jumped to grab it, but it was too far away.

"I can't reach! The armor! It's too heavy, Tobes." Jim explained.

"Toby, I'm going to half way crawl through the sewer drain. Hang on to me!" I ordered. He did what I said and reached out for Jim.

"Pathetic that you meet your end in the sewers, Young Atlas." Bular growled. He swiped at Jim, but Jim was able to dodge all of his strikes. Then, Bular got his sword stuck in the cement.

"Jim, grab my hand! Now!" I yelled.

"I lost the Grit-Shaka, but I can still be brave." Jim said while taking off his amulet and stepping onto Bular's sword. Bular threw back his weapon, which allowed Jim to grab my hand. We quickly pulled him up. Jim closed the sewer drain, which kept us safe from Bular. The sewer drain popped open revealing Bular's hand, but it went back down. We did it. Jim was alright.

"Strickler's a changling." Jim said. What?

"I never trusted him." Toby said breathing heavily, then he sat up, "Also, you've been a real turd today."

Jim groaned and said, "And I smell like one too." Then, I slapped Jim arm. Quite hard might I add.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? YOU JUST ABOUT GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK!" I screamed. Jim looked at me with fear in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Mo. If I had known that the Grit-Shaka would do that to me, I would never have put it on. I swear!" Jim promised. I sighed then hugged him.

"Just promise me that you will never put that necklace on again." I said.

"Also, please never say crispy again." Toby said.

"Deal." Jim said high-fiving him...

Later that night, I stayed up late, so that I could talk to Mom when she got home. I've been giving a lot of thought about what she asked me earlier. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see me awake.

"What are you doing up so late?" She questioned.

"Mom, I've given a lot of thought about the conversation we had earlier. I've decided to stay home, but on one condition." I said.

"What condition could that be?" Mom wondered.

"I'll pay a $150 rent per month as soon as I get a job, which I hope will be soon. I just got a call from the school and they said that they would like to have an interview with me tomorrow. I want to help you as much as I can." I said. Mom looked like she wanted to argue, but she knew me too well to know that it was nearly impossible to change my mind when I've made a decision.

So, instead, she hugged me and said, "I'm glad you decided to stay."


	5. Recipe for Disaster Part I

I paced back and forth across the room. Today was the day of my interview for the school's English teacher position! I'm a nervous wreck right now. I really want this job, but what happens if I don't get it? What then? Ever since yesterday, Mom has been prepping me for the interview giving me tips on how to present myself and giving me questions that they would ask during the interviews.

"Mo, you're going to do great. You have all the credentials required for the job." Jim said trying to encourage me.

"I don't know, Jim. What if I mess up and accidentally knock the principal's coffee cup onto the principal! What if I leave my ringer on and I get a call during the interview? Do you realize how unprofessional that is?" I panicked.

"Monica, you've been prepping for this interview during the past 24 hours. You'll do fine. Do you mind giving Jim and Toby a ride to school?" Mom asked.

"Sure. I'm going to have the interview at 8:00 anyways." I said. Mom patted my back, giving us both kisses on the cheeks, then left the house.

"Maybe after school I can take you to Trollmarket." Jim suggested. My eyes widened with excitement. I've been dying to see that place for ages.

"Seriously? You mean it?" I questioned. Jim nodded. I tackled him in a hug. "You are the best brother ever. Come on. We better get going. Don't want to be late and also it's always suggested to show up 15 minutes early before an interview begins." I informed him. Jim laughed and shook his. We got into my car, picking up Toby, and went to school. Once we got there, Jim and Toby walked with me over the Principal Levit's office.

"Good luck." Toby said.

"You can do this, Monica." Jim said.

Slowly, I opened the door and entered the office. 7:45. Fifteen minutes early exact. Score one for Monica. I saw that Principal Levit wasn't in his office, so I sat in the chair and waited for him to arrive. After about five minutes, he entered the office.

"Hello, Ms. Lake. I am pleased to see a former graduate of our school interested in returning to teach." He said shaking my hand.

"I'm glad to be back too." I said smiling. Then, the interview began...

After the interview was over, I ran into Jim's teacher, Strickler, I slightly froze when I saw him, but quickly recovered.

"Hello, Mr. Strickler, it's good to see you again." I commented. Mr. Strickler smiled and replied,

"Likewise, I actually just got done speaking to your brother Jim. Your mother has invited me over to dinner tonight and like I told him, I graciously accepted. I hope this won't be awkward for you." Strickler explained.

"Oh not at all." I lied through gritted teeth. It was taking all of my will power not to gag at the thought of my mom dating Strickler and I was also completely terrified because that means my mom is dating a changling.

"That's good. I'll see you tonight, Ms. Lake." Strickler said and he walked away. When he left, I sat in the car until school got out. I searched for Jim until I discovered him walking with Toby.

"Jim, Strickler is coming over to our house later. What are we going to do?" I wondered.

"Don't worry. I've got a plan. While Strickler is eating at our house, this gives Toby, Aaarrrgghh, and Blinky the opportunity to sneak into his office. They might be able to find some information on where the bridge is." Jim explained.

"I don't know, Jim. What if somethings happens?" I asked.

"Nothing bad will happen. Strickler doesn't even know that we know that's he's a changling." Jim said.

"Alright. We'll go along with the plan." I agreed...

Later that evening, we explained the plan to Draal while we were mixing stuff for dinner.

"I do not like this plan. It lacks a certain 'killing the changling' component." Draal protested.

"I would love to, but not until they locate the bridge, okay? And find out what he wants with me." Jim explained.

"We could rip off his limbs, make him talk, more like scream. Now that sounds like a good plan." Draal suggested.

"No, no ripping anything. Our mom... ugh! She kind of likes him. And since she's here, I can't have you busting chops, unless it's a last resort, and only if it's a last resort." Jim ordered.

Draal sighed, "How I will I know this last resort?" That's when I stepped.

"Okay. If everything's cool, I'll tap once. If I run into any trouble, I'll stomp twice. Got it?" I asked.

"Two times, then I tear his limbs." Draal repeated. Then, the doorbell rang.

"Just stay down here and no limb tearing." I ordered. Jim ran upstairs, but before I could, Draal stopped me.

"Be careful, Monica. Changlings are dangerous creatures and cannot be trusted." Draal warned. I nodded, then ran up the stairs to catch up with Jim and to face Strickler.


	6. Recipe for Disaster Part II

Running up the stairs, I heard Mr. Strickler speaking to my mother, "-so I brought a pino noir, the heart-break grape."

"Oh, we don't judge here. All kinds are welcome." My mother said taking the wine and bringing it to the dining room. Jim and I walked up to Mr. Strickler.

"Ah, the Lake siblings." Mr. Strickler greeted.

"Mr. Strickler." Jim grinning while he was stirring the bowl.

"Please. My friends call me Walt." Mr. Strickler implored.

"What do your enemies call you?" Jim wondered. I stomped on his foot.

"Jim, don't be rude. " I said. Jim and I went into the kitchen to make dinner. While we were there, Jim gave Toby the signal that it was okay to go.

We set up the table and began eating. Strickler was telling us a story, "So I said to my co-worker, 'I brought you a mid-night snack.' Too bad for him. He had indigestion for days. Well, that's the problem for eating Italian." Strickler and Mom laughed while Jim and I just stood there watching them. Then, Mom's phone buzzed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's the hospital. I have to take this." Mom explained.

"Go, go. I'll try not to bore Jim and Monica to death." Strickler snorted. Suddenly, my phone started ringing. It was Principle Levit. Guess it's time to see if I got the job or not.

"I'm sorry, Jim and Mr. Strickler. It's Principle Levit calling about the interview we had this morning." I said glancing at Jim. Jim gave me his 'it's okay' look, so I went towards the living room to talk.

"Mr. Levit?" I questioned.

"Hello, Ms. Lake. I've called you to congratulate you. You've just been accepted into becoming an English teacher at Arcadia Oaks. You begin work next Monday." Principal Levit explained. I shrieked.

"Really? Thank-you! Thank-you! I won't let you down." I promised.

"Enjoy your evening, Ms. Lake. I'll see you next Monday." Principal Levit congratulated, then the phone hung up. I can't believe it. I got the job! I would've screamed from excitement right then and there, but I remembered that Mr. Strickler was still in the house. I walked back into the dining room where Jim and Mr. Strickler were requesting for sharp knives! He must've found out!

"Honey, was that the school?" Mom asked.

"Yes, it was. I got the job! I start work next Monday." I told her.

"Congratulations, Mo!" Jim exclaimed giving me a hug. Mom joined in too. "I'm so proud of you." She said.

"Congratulations, Ms. Lake, I look forward to seeing you at school." Mr. Strickler said. I nervously smiled and I noticed Jim was glaring at him. Mom grabbed us some knives and we continued eating. After we were done, Mom announced,

"I hope you saved some room for some hot Apple Pie. I just need a second. Talk amongst yourselves." And, she left the room. Suddenly, Jim and Strickler pushed their chairs back and aimed their knives at each other. Oh no! This is really not good.

"I'm assuming that your sister knows your secret. It's a shame that she won't know it for long." Mr. Strickler threatened. My eyes widened.

"You will not harm her." Jim declared pulling me behind him.

"Give me the amulet and I will leave you and your sister alone." Mr. Strickler demanded as we circled each other. I've never fought before, so right now, I was just hoping I wouldn't mess things up.

"Over my dead body." Jim stated.

"I know what you're capable of. I know what you're not capable of. I know that you have a thing for Claire, and I know that you would do anything for Toby and Monica. You want to keep your mother out of this, and you look up to Blinky as your surrogate father. Poor Jim. I even know as we speak, your adorable little friends are breaking into my office. Do you think, I'd be so foolish as to leave important information lying around unguarded?" Strickler questioned.

"But, did you know that Draal is in our basement?" I asked tapping the floor twice. Nothing happened. Jim tapped the floor, then Strickler caught on to what we were doing. We started fighting.

"Not a very good guard dog, is he?" Strickler teased.

"He is not our guard dog." I said lunging at him. Strickler stepped to the side and tripped me. He lunged at me, but Jim quickly got in front of me and deflected the blow. It wasn't long before Jim was disarmed. Before Jim could be hurt, I tripped Strickler who landed on his back.

"Monica, go get Draal." Jim ordered. I got up and started running towards the basement. Strickler threw his knife and it caught my sleeve which pinned me against the wall.

"Now, it's my turn to let you in on a secret. While you might have had this Draal in your basement, I have an Antramonstrum in my office." Mr. Strickler said. That means the others are in danger.

"A what?" Jim asked.

"Oh, it's just a vaporous creature. Dormant until disturbed, shockingly fierce, and excellent at erasing sneaky snakes." Mr. Strickler explained. I managed to get the knife off and quickly dialed Toby's number.

"Enough!" Strickler yelled and he transformed into an extremely tall creature with green skin. He wore this cloak with metal objects at the top. The call went to Toby's voicemail. "What do you think? Good look for picture day?" I tried calling Toby again, but it was useless. Strickler went towards Jim's bag, but luckily the amulet wasn't in there.

"Give me the amulet." Strickler demanded again. I went towards the basement to get Draal and I actually made it. I burst the door open and ran downstairs.

"Draal, we need your help." I said. Draal pointed towards Claire and I yelped. What was she doing here?

"What? How?" I asked.

"She crawled in through the window. I tried my best to hide from her, but she saw me. She screamed, then got herself knocked out." Draal explained. I would've asked more questions, but she wasn't our primary concern right now.

"We'll deal with her later." I said, "Right now. We need to help Jim." I pulled him along. I reached the top of the stairs, then stopped when I saw Mom had reentered the living room asking if anyone wanted pie. I tried to stop Draal, but he accidentally bumped into me, which sent me across the floor. Luckily, he wasn't seen by Mom or that Mom noticed me.

"Where is that contact lens?" Strickler wondered searching around. While she was distracted by them, I quickly closed the door and told Draal to stay quiet.

"I didn't know you wore contact lens." Mom commented.

"There's a lot that you don't know about me." Mr. Strickler admitted. Yeah. No kidding. She turned to me and asked,

"Did you find what you were looking for for the smoothies that Jim said you were going to make?"

"Oh. Yeah. I'll just go into the kitchen. I'll be right back." I went into the kitchen and made some smoothies for everyone. I passed them all out and we ate our apple pie. Then, desert was over and we were showing Strickler to the door. Mom was insisting that he should take some leftovers.

"Oh. The recipe would've sufficed." Mr. Strickler said.

"No, we insist." Jim said shoving the left over pie into his arms.

"Goodnight, Barbara. See you at school, Young Atlas, and Ms. Lake. It should be interesting now that we've gotten to know each other so well." Mr. Strickler said.

"It will be a shame when I won't have you for a teacher anymore." Jim said clutching Mom and I's arms. Then, he left.

"That went well." Mom commented.

"I don't know. He seemed kind of two-faced to me." Jim told her. That's one way of putting it.

"Two-faced? It sounded like you guys got along so well." Mom said. I nearly snorted, but I quickly held my laughter. Behind Mom, I saw Draal holding Claire by her feet. My eyes widened. I nearly forgot about her.

"Honestly, he's not the guy he says he is." I explained while Jim was signaling Draal to go back downstairs.

"Jim, Monica, I know this might be hard for you two..." Mom began, but Jim cut her off,

"Mom, I don't want you to see him again." I could tell that she was hurt by this.

"I really expected more from you two." Mom said and walked away. I sighed wishing I could tell her what was really going on.


	7. The Thriskule

**A/N: This isn't the chapter where Claire discovers Jim's secret. That will be the next one and the next one will also be where Monica will start her job as an English teacher. This is just something that happens between those two episodes. Enjoy!**

I biked with Toby and Jim to the canals. Today was the day where I would finally get to see Troll market. Toby was asking me about how much I knew about Troll market. Jim has been telling me about the people while Draal was teaching me about the history behind Troll market. Once we got there, we parked our bikes under the bridge. Jim took out this crystal, which is called a horngazel.

"Alright, Mo, just draw a large arc like this. Then, you put your hand on the cement wall." Jim explained mimicking what I was supposed to do. I nodded and did exactly as he told me. Once I touched the cement, it disappeared and a crystal staircase appeared. It was breath-taking. We walked down to the bottom where we met up with Aaarrrgghh and Blinky.

"Hello, Ms. Lake. Are you ready to see Troll market?" Blinky questioned.

"Yes! I'm so excited!" I shrieked. Blinky laughed obviously liking my enthusiasm.

We walked a little ways away, then I caught sight of Troll market. It was beautiful. A subterranean metropolis. The city was pulsing with energy and jewel-fueled light. At the very center, was the legendary Heartstone, which towered over the rest of village that looked like it came straight from Viking lore. I wanted to explore every inch of this place. Blinky became the tour guide and told us so many things about Troll market. We got to see his library, which I will definitely be exploring later, the Troll pub, Rot Guts, and Heartstone hall. It was in Heartstone Hall that we ran into Vendel.

"Ah. So, this is the Trollhunter's sister. Luckily, for you, Blinky and Aaarrrgghh informed me of your coming today. From what they've told me about you, you are more behaved than your brother and Toby, which makes sense, because you are 21, am I correct?" Vendel questioned. I nodded, then he continued, "As long as you don't cause trouble, you are welcome here anytime." With that being said, he walked away. I looked over at Jim and Toby and they seemed slightly offended by what Vendel said about them, but also relieved that I would be allowed in Troll market.

We entered the tour by heading to the Hero's Forge. It was incredible. It was a large arena surrounded by statues. These must be the Trollhunters' statues that Jim and Draal were talking about. Looking above I saw balcony's which must've been used to see matches.

"This is awesome!" I exclaimed.

"Do you want to see how it works?" Jim asked. I nodded and the Hero's Forge came to life. Jim demonstrated how the Forge worked and performed some of his training exercises. After he was finished, I asked,

"Can I try?" I asked.

"Sure. Go ahead and choose a weapon by the racks." Jim said pointing in the direction of the rafts. I observed each of the weapons. So far, none of them stood out, but as I continued, there was one that caught my eye. Towards the middle, I spotted a bow that was a greenish color with a set of arrows beside it. It was glowing and I felt like it was calling to me. I picked up the bow and gazed at the intricate designs. Suddenly, the glow disappeared and I felt a searing pain on the inside of my wrists.

"Monica, are you okay?" Jim called running towards me. Blinky and Aaarrrgghh stood there amazed by what they were witnessing.

"Wait. Jim, Monica has just been chosen to wield the Thriskule. This weapon hasn't chosen anyone worthy to wield it's powers for past ten years." Blinky explained. The pain stopped and I looked down at my arm and there was a tattoo of a bow on the inside of my wrist. Mom's going to kill me if she finds out that I have a tattoo.

"Get this off me!" I yelled trying to rub it.

"Monica, calm down. That tattoo will help you summon the bow when you need it. You simply have to tap on it. If you want to make the tattoo invisible to the world around you, all you have to do is simply tell it too. The Thriskule is an ancient weapon. This is no ordinary bow, Monica. This bow has the magic to transform itself into another weapon. It takes on a distinct weapon for each of the wielders of the bow. However, you must find a way to unlock it's power." Blinky explained.

"What does it mean?" I asked.

"Well, in the past, the wielder of the Thriskule had the power to turn the tides of a war. For example, the wielder will either help us win the battler, or the wielder would make us lose the battle. If the Thriskule has chosen a Wielder, then I'm afraid that there will be a war on the rise." Blinky explained. No pressure.

"Aw! How come she gets a really cool weapon?" Toby complained.

"Don't worry, Tobes. You'll get your own weapon soon." Blinky encouraged. After about a couple hours, we left Troll market. Since there wasn't any trouble, for once, Jim and Toby decided to hang out and catch a movie. They invited me to come along, but I wanted to see how this weapon worked.

Mom was still at work, so I had sometime to train. Blinky said that I needed to find a way to unlock its power, but how? Maybe Draal knows. He is the son of Kanjigar, the former Trollhunter. I went downstairs hoping that Draal would train me how to use my weapon.

"Draal?" I asked.

"Yes, Monica?" Draal wondered.

"Would you perhaps help train me in how to use this bow?" I questioned revealing the bow to him. Draal's eyes widened and carefully picked up the bow.

"The Thriskule chose you?" Draal questioned. I explained to him about how I received it. After I was done, I asked,

"So, would you be willing to train me?" I wondered. Draal thought for a moment then replied,

"It would be an honor to train you."


	8. Claire and Present Danger

As much as I would've liked to help with Jim solving the Enrique matter, I had to plan out all the lessons I would be teaching next week to the freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Today was Saturday! I had two days to figure this out. Why did I think that this would be a good idea again? Well, I can't go back on it now. I'm just going to have to take this entire thing one step at a time and pray that I don't go insane.

I've been working at this all day and I've only planned out the freshmen and sophomores! I still have the juniors and seniors to plan out. While I was in the middle of planning out Friday's assignments for the juniors, I got a call from Toby. Picking up the phone, I answered, "I don't really have time for this, Toby. I'm only halfway done with planning out this weeks assignments."

"Monica, Not Enrique told us that the goblins are after Claire and Jim is heading over to her house right now! Meet us there. If we're not there before you, just go ahead and search for Jim!" Toby explained and the phone hung up. My eyes widened and I dashed out of the house, grabbing Thriskule, and ran towards the Nunez home. I admit, I would've gotten there a lot faster if I had just taken my bike or even my car, but I was in a state of panic.

Once I got there, I searched around and I was about to head to the door when I noticed a back pack. It must be Claire's. I ran as I fast as I could in that direction.

"Jim! Claire!" I called over and over again, but there was no answer. Further in, I heard noises. That had to be them. I pulled out my bow. I haven't yet unlocked it's full power, but it would still work as a normal bow, so that's something. It was so dark outside.

"FOR THE GLORY OF MERLIN! WHERE ARE YOU?" I heard someone shouting. Jim! I ran in the direction of where I heard the yelling coming from. Then, I found them.

Taking out my bow, I began shooting at the goblins.

"Monica!" Jim shouted. I turned behind me and struck down a goblin that was sneaking up behind me. Suddenly, a flash of light whipped by me and Jim caught it. It was the amulet. Did that mean that the amulet he had with him earlier was fake?

"For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command." Jim said. Claire and I watched amazed as the armor appeared on Jim. I snapped out of my daze and I pulled Claire behind me as I fought off the goblins that were approaching us at an alarming rate.

"Get down!" Jim shouted. Claire and I got out of the way as Jim fought off the rest of the goblins. I mean, I've seen Jim fight before, but never like this. Soon enough, the goblins were destroyed.

"What the- how the-?" Claire was at a loss for words.

"Yeah. That cool thing I wanted to show you. This is it." Jim explained.

"This. This is... Wow." Claire said.

"Pretty much." Jim agreed. Claire walked up to him and touched the armor.

"This was never a costume." Claire said and they both laughed. Costume? Jim would have to explain that one later. Then, I noticed a goblin sneaking up behind Jim. Luckily, he noticed it too and he sliced it.

"Ugh. I hate those things." Jim said.

"These things took my brother? Do you know where he is?" Claire wondered.

"Yes... and no. It's complicated, but I can assure you he is safe." Jim assured.

"The monsters... in your letter. They were real monsters." Claire said putting the pieces together. Letter? My mind flashed back to last week. I had gotten a letter from Jim, and I meant to read it, but I never got the chance. I was so preoccupied with moving out of my apartment, resigning from my previous job, moving back home, discovering about trolls, and getting a new job that I completely forgot about it.

"No, not monsters. Trolls. And some of them are our friends." Jim explained. Claire began to hyperventilate and I understand why, This was a lot to take in.

"Breathe." I said trying to calm her down.

"This is-" Claire couldn't find the exact words too say.

"Take a breath." Jim said also trying to calm her down. He was about to put his hand on her shoulder, but Claire shoved it away.

"I should've believed you. Why does something that makes no sense make so much sense now? When you destroyed my house, When you missed so many rehearsals, you wore that knight suit to tryouts! Ugh! Like, being in a stupid play is suddenly some high priority." Claire groaned.

"No, it is. The play must go on! We have to make it look like everything is normal. If people knew... I'm sorry, Claire, but you can't tell anyone about this. Not your friends, not your parents- " Jim explained, but he was interrupted by Claire.

"What am I supposed to tell my parents about Enrique? That he's a change-thing? I don't even know what that is." Claire sighed.

"Like I said, it's... it's complicated. But, I can assure you, he is safe." Jim promised.

"Who else knows besides Monica? Toby, Strickler..." Claire wondered.

"I'll explain everything later. You've been through a lot, but right now we have to-" Jim said. Then, there was hissing and a haunting whistle that brought chills to my bones was heard. Jim took out and ordered,

"You and Monica need to run. Run back home and don't look back."

"I'm not leaving you, Jim." I stated drawing out my bow while Claire picked up a stick.

"Who's whistling?" Claire wondered. The whistling continued and we looked up at a tree so glowing yellow eyes. She was a changeling with long black hair and pink skin. She jumped down from the tree.

"How cute. And they say chivalry is dead." She chuckled while pulling out her twin swords. She flipped up into the air and landed on the ground.

"Run, Claire! Monica, keep Claire safe!" Jim yelled. I didn't want to leave him, but I needed get Claire out of here. We ran towards Claire's house as fast as we could.

I felt like a coward for running and leaving my little brother to fight the changeling, but I knew that Jim was right. Claire needed to get to safety first, but as soon as she was safe, I was going to go straight back there to help him. I focused on my bow and I willed it to disappear and it did. Claire ran up to her house and yelled,

"Mom! Dad!" And, we burst into the house.

"Claire, what's wrong?" Her father questioned. We both out of breath.

"It's my brother, Jim!" I panted. We dashed out of the house and back into the woods.

"This way!" Claire yelled leading the way, "Hurry! He's over here!" I exclaimed as we went over to my unconscious brother. Oh no! This can't be happening. I should've never left. I'm a terrible sister.

Tears streamed down my eyes as I picked Jim up, "Jim! Jim! Can you hear me? Jim, please wake up!" I cried.

"Dad, Dad, call an ambulance." Claire said. I clutched Jim and pulled him close to me. Toby ran to my side. We saw Jim open his eyes, but he passed out again. The ambulance came and we rushed Jim to the hospital room. On the way to the emergency room, we kept telling Jim that it was going to be okay that he needed to hang on.

When I was alone with Jim in his hospital room, I clutched Jim's arm and said, "I'm so sorry, Jim. I shouldn't have left you alone to fight that changeling." I took looked at the tattoo on my wrist and stated, "You chose wrong. I'm not worthy to wield your powers. I'm nothing but a coward." I buried my face into my folded arms resting on Jim's beside and cried into the night.


	9. Discovery

**A/N: This is another filler chapter between episodes. This chapter and the Battle of the Two Bridges will be taking place in one day.**

The next day, I woke up to see that I had fallen asleep on Jim's bedside. He was still out cold. I heard the door open and Mom came into the room. She pulled up a chair and sat next to me.

"He woke up earlier this morning. I was going to wake you, but Jim insisted that you rest. He said that you and Claire had a rough night. Something about coyotes, but I looked at the scratch marks and they weren't from coyotes. Please, Monica. Tell me what really happened." Mom begged. I thought for a moment about what I should say to her. I knew I couldn't tell her the whole truth, but I could tell her partially what happened.

"Jim and Claire were rehearsing some scenes for the Romeo and Juliet play tonight. They asked me to come along for some last minute tips. Toby would've come too, but he had something planned, but he was going to meet up with us later. While we were rehearsing outside, we heard some rustling in the bushes. We looked to see what was in the bushes, then something or several things popped out. We were chased into the woods. I couldn't quite make out what the animals were. It could've been coyotes, but it was too dark out to tell. Jim told us to run back to the house while he held them off. Claire and I ran as fast as we could to her house and grabbed Mr. Nunez. When we got back, the creatures were gone and Jim was seriously hurt. We called an ambulance and now here we are. I should've stayed and protected Jim, Mom. Maybe if I had, then Jim wouldn't be in a hospital bed." I cried.

"Honey, it's not your fault. If you had stayed, you probably would've been seriously injured as well. If you had gotten hurt, you and I both know that he would blame himself for not protecting you and I know that must be what you're feeling right now. You both love each other so much that you would risk anything for each other. You have that sibling bond that is unbreakable." Mom explained. She wiped away my tears and gave me a smile.

"Why don't you go home and rest? You still have to finish writing out your lessons for school. Jim will be alright. I will call you when he wakes up." Mom suggested. I looked over at Jim. I didn't want to leave him.

"Monica, as your mother and your doctor, I implore you to go home and rest. You, Jim, and Claire had a rough night. Go home, sweetie." Mom told me. I stood up and left the hospital to go home.

While walking home, I noticed out of the corner of my that someone was following me. It was a woman with black hair and green eyes. She wore a purple dress and I also noticed that she was whistling. Whistling! I didn't want her to realize that I knew who she was, so I went through alley way hoping to lose her. When I exited them, I noticed that she was still following me. Looking around, I noticed that there was nobody in sight. I looked down at my wrist and touched the tattoo. Immediately, the Thriskule appeared in my hands and the woman transformed into the changeling I saw last night.

"Who are you? What do you want with my brother?" I demanded. The changeling chuckled and replied,

"My name is Nomura. We need your brother to open the bridge. I would've gotten him last night, but you and your friends intervened. So, I have to improvise. We already have Blinky, but to make sure that he definitely comes, we need you. You're his beloved sister, after all." She chuckled then pulled out her curved swords and charged.

I pulled out an arrow and fired at the changeling. She was going to pay for what she did to Jim. Nomura dodged the arrow and attempted slice me, but I quickly got out of the way.

"This is for Jim!" I shouted and I actually managed to land a strike. Suddenly, my bow transformed into twin daggers. I did it. I unlocked the bows powers. I glared at Nomura and threw one of the daggers at her. She side-stepped out of the way. Then, she kicked me in the stomach which caused me to collide with wall.

Before I could recover, Nomura quickly ran over to me and knocked me out.


	10. Battle of the Two Bridges Part I

Opening my eyes, I realized that I was chained up. Was I in the museum? The chains were covering up my tattoo, so I couldn't summon it. Looking around the room, I spotting Blinky hanging upside down tied up and I noticed Strickler, Bular, Nomura, and Not Enrique. They noticed that I was awake and Strickler walked over to me.

"Ah. The sister of the Trollhunter finally awakens. It is time to contact the Trollhunter. You will tell him to meet us at the Bridge alone." Strickler ordered.

"I am not going to tell him that." I stated.

"You will or Blinky will die." Strickler declared. I looked over at Blinky who was unconscious. I couldn't let him die. He was my friend and he was like a father to Jim.

"Alright. I'll do it." I said. Strickler grabbed my phone and smirked, "Looks like we're right on time. Jim just woke up." He said showing me the text from Mom. He dialed Jim's number and I noticed that Blinky was waking up. The dial went to Jim's voicemail. Once it went to the recording part, Strickler put the phone next to me. I grabbed my phone.

"Listen to me very carefully, Jim. They've captured Blinky and me and they want you to come to the Bridge alone. Don't come though, Jim!" I screamed.

"It's a trap!" Blinky yelled.

"Give me that!" Strickler yelled snatching the phone away from me, "It appears that things have grown awkward, Mr. Lake. Meet me in the alley beside the theater if you ever want to see your sister or your friend again."

"Don't open the Bridge! Under no circumstances!" Blinky yelled. Strickler hung up the phone. A while later, he left the museum.

"He won't come, Bular. Jim is a trained and true Trollhunter." Blinky stated. Then, Jim walked through the curtains with Strickler. No, Jim. What were you thinking?

"Oh, Master Jim. Why did you not heed my warning?" Blinky demanded to know.

"You promised that we would build that Vespa together. Remember? Now cut him down and release my sister, I brought the amulet." Jim said. Bular pointed his sword and Nomura drew her swords out pinned them tightly across my neck.

"Open the Bridge, I will not ask again." Bular ordered. Blinky tried reasoning with Jim, but Jim just kept going to the Bridge.

"Jim, please don't open the Bridge. Think about what would happen to the world if Gunmar should escape. Think about Troll market, your friends, think about Mom. My life is not worth the rest of the of the world." I begged.

"I trained you better than this. For the glory of Merlin, not another step!" Blinky commanded. Suddenly, there was beeping.

"He's wearing a tracking device. You said the Trollhunter was alone." Nomura growled at Strickler.

"Not Trollhunter. Trollhunters." Jim corrected. Then, the curtains were pulled back to reveal Aaarrrgghh, Toby, and Draal. He didn't come alone. Thank God.

"I am Toby! Grandson of Nana! Fan of Hard rock!" Toby yelled and pressed a button on his phone, which played a slow jazz tune. "Sorry. Wrong play list. Hold on one second. Oh, okay, here it is." Then, hard rock music started playing.

"For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command." Jim said and he was encased in his armor.

"Kill them all!" Bular ordered. He started attacking Jim, but Draal literally rolled over and smashed into Bular.

"I am Draal the Deadly, son of Kanjigar. And you will suffer for my father's death." Draal growled and the two began to fight. I heard Strickler talking to Toby,

"Toby Domzalski, you are in way over-" Suddenly, he was kicked where the sun does not shine. Ouch. Strickler collapsed to the floor in pain.

"Rule number three." Toby proclaimed proudly. I saw Blinky talking to Jim then Jim shouted, "Tobes, help Blinky and Monica!" Toby was about to come to me, but I yelled, "Free Blinky first!" He shouted to Aaarrrgghh then Aaarrrgghh threw him to Blinky. I looked back to Draal and saw that he had been pinned down by Bular.

"Draal, no!" I shouted. Aaarrrgghh took notice of the situation and charged Bular.

"Like father, like son." Bular growled. He was about to kill Draal, but Aaarrrgghh slammed into Bular. Draal got up and was about to come over and free me, but Nomura blocked the path.

"Care to rekindle what we had, Draal?" Nomura taunted. I looked at my chains and grinned. Thankfully, I had some room to move around, but not much. I sprung up behind her and wrapped my chains around her neck.

"Rekindle this!" I shouted. Nomura tried to grab me and throw me off. I let go just in the nick of time because Draal slammed into her. Nomura got up and took out her curved swords and was about to attack Draal, but I intervened. I wrapped my chains around her swords, which caused the chains to break. I still had cuffs to the chains on, but at least the chain wasn't attached. I was free. This caused Nomura to be distracted for a moment, which allowed Draal to slam her into one of the wall pillars.

We were about to finish her off, but we saw that Killahead Bridge was open. No. Nomura looked over and rejoiced,

"Killahead Bridge. The time is now!"


	11. Battle of the Two Bridges Part II

Suddenly, I felt like was sucked towards the portal and I would've too, but Draal caught me, while still having Nomura pinned to the pillar. Draal roared and threw Nomura to the side. He put me behind the pillar, so I wouldn't be sucked into the portal. Then, he charged for the Bridge. He climbed up the side and began to pull the amulet out.

Nomura was about to jump on to Draal, but I let go of the pillar and grabbed her pushing her towards the portal. When I was close enough, I let go and grabbed onto the bridge. Nomura grabbed a hold of my leg, but I kicked her in the face, which caused her to let go and be sucked into the portal.

"No! Let go, Draal! Let go!" Jim yelled. Debris started flying towards the portal. I ducked my head to shield myself. Suddenly, the Bridge exploded. When the dust cleared, I noticed that I had been tossed across the room from the force of the explosion. Looking around, I saw that Draal was unconscious and his arm was turned to stone.

"Draal!" Jim shouted running towards him. No, he can't be dead. I quickly got up and dashed over towards Jim and Draal. We got down on our knees. Draal's arm crumbled.

"I'd hand you the amulet, but-" Draal pointed out the obvious.

"You're alive!" I exclaimed overjoyed. Then, we noticed that Bular was still alive.

"Master Jim, we must leave at once." Blinky ordered. Jim and I started helping Draal up.

"Help us, Aaarrrgghh!" Jim exclaimed. We were able to get Draal up and we realized that the only way out was by the sewer system.

"Father!" Bular cried out.

"Oh! You've got to be kidding me!" Jim complained.

"No way! I'm not gonna jump in the sewer!" I protested.

"There's gotta be a chicken surprise down there! Maybe two!" Toby pointed out.

" _Bon appetit_! Toby concluded when we saw Bular making his way towards us.

"With expediency, compatriots." Blinky said. We jumped in one by one. We were pushed by the current until Aaarrrgghh caught us. Jim was being pushed by the current and Toby and I tried to catch him, but he slipped through our fingers. No! Aaarrrgghh managed to find us another way out and we saw that Jim was facing Bular.

"Jim!" I shouted.

"Oh no!" Toby exclaimed. Bular grinned and looked at us.

"Just in time to see their Trollhunter slain." Bular announced. No! Suddenly, Bular was struck by Jim.

"Now that's Daylight for you!" Jim proclaimed. Bular began turning to stone and he fell into the water. We began running over to Jim.

"You're alive!" Toby laughed.

"Master Jim!" Blinky yelled.

"Fleshbag!" Draal cheered.

"Way to go, Jim!" I cheered.

"Jim!" Aaarrrgghh exclaimed. Toby and I helped Jim up. "Master Jim! You've done it! I... I can't find the words." Blinky beamed and hugged Jim. "Dude, victory hugging." Toby proclaimed. He and I both hugged Jim. "Happy!" Aaarrrgghh said and pulled all of us into a group hug.

"Guys! I was almost squeezed to death! Ease up a little." Jim groaned.

"I can't believe it! You killed Bular, the son of Gunmar, man!" Toby exclaimed. Draal took a deep breath and said, "My father has been avenged. Thank-you, Trollhunter." Jim put smiled and put his hand on his shoulder.

"And with minutes before your play starts!" Then, Toby gasped, "Oh no, the play!"

"The play! I almost forgot!" Jim realized.

"Hurry, Master Jim! Leave Killahead to us! We'll take care of..." Then, we heard growling and turned to see that Bular was still alive! Toby was right underneath him. I was about to run over to him to pull him away from Bular, but Aaarrrgghh charged Bular and smashed him to stone.

"Aaarrrgghh, your oath..." Toby said.

"Your life more important. Not pet. Wing man." Aaarrrgghh said and held out his fist.

"Ditto, buddy." Toby said tearing up and did their hand shake. He hugged Aaarrrgghh's fist and Aaarrrgghh lifted him into the air, "Now lets go take care of that Bridge and make sure it never opens again."

"And you, Master Jim. The play must go on." Blinky said. After he left, we were able to gather all the pieces to the Killahead Bridge. Then, Toby and I rushed to see Jim's play. Personally, I never liked Romeo and Juliet, romance stories never really appealed to me, but my brother was in the play so I was going to watch it.

"I will kiss thy lips." Claire said and she kissed Jim. I wasn't sure how to feel about this because this was my little brother we were talking about. I had a mixture of happiness, but I also wanted scream, "Stay away from my brother!" Which I assume is coming from my overprotective older sister side. Don't get me wrong, I do ship Claire and Jim. After all, Jim has had a crush on Claire for ages. It's just so weird seeing my little brother being kissed by someone. I looked over at Mom and judging by her expression, I could tell that she was feeling the same way.

"Thy lips are warm. Then, I'll be brief. O happy dagger. This is my sheath." Then, Claire fake stabbed herself, "There thrust and let me die." She took her final breath and died at Jim's side. I heard Toby say, "What? Are you-? Juliet dies. No." Toby mourned.

"A glooming peace, this morning with it brings. Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things. For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo." Eli said. With that, the play ended. I have to give Romeo and Juliet one thing though. It's still a better love story than Twilight.

We stood up and clapped for the cast and the crew...

Early the next morning, we were celebrating the victory of Killahead Bridge.

"All hail, Jim, the Bular Slayer!" One of the trolls yelled. I was sitting by Draal who was testing out his new metal arm.

"Hey! Who wants tacos? Who wants tacos? Taco for you. Taco for you. Tacos for everybody!" Toby announced giving one to Draal and I. Draal sniffed the taco. "Come on. Try it. It's good." I encouraged him taking a bite out of my own taco. Draal tried the taco and he discovered that it really was good.

"Mmm. This tastes better than socks!" One of the trolls declared. After a while, Jim, Toby, and I sat together away from the crowds.

"Well, you said that you wanted adventure and something more. Did that amulet help you find it?" Toby wondered.

"Hmmm. No." Jim answered. Toby coughed and I looked at him surprised.

"No?" I asked. Jim smiled and replied, "You two did."

"Really?" I questioned.

"I knew you needed me." Toby said. Jim sat up and explained, "I'm going to need you two now more than ever. I don't know how, but we are gonna get Claire's brother back."

"That place is huge, Jim! Enrique could be anywhere. I wouldn't even know where to start looking. Then, there's Gunmar, of course." Toby pointed out.

"I don't know, Jim. Toby does have a point." I said. Jim playfully shoved both of us and said,

"We'll figure it out. We always do."


	12. Teaching

Today was the day. I couldn't believe that today was my first day of teaching! After the whole party with the trolls, Jim, Toby, and I headed towards school. We had brought our bags along, so we wouldn't have to go back later. Once I got to my classroom, I was welcomed by the other teachers. All except Strickler. The other teachers were Coach Lawrence, Senor Uhl, and Miss Janeth.

They were informing me about which kids tend to disrupt class and which kids were behaved. I am so nervous. My first class starts after first period. Throughout first period, I was nervously tugging my red hair and reviewing everything that I had planned. Breathe, Monica. Breathe. Everything will be alright. You can do this. Luckily, my first class of the day was with the sophomores, which meant that Jim would be here. The bell rang and I was doing everything I could to not dart out of this classroom. If the other teachers could do this, then so could I.

Kids started piling into the classroom and I spotted Jim and Toby. I wanted to get out of here and never come back. I walked to the center of the room and began, "Hello, class. My name is Monica Lake. To begin our first lesson, I would appreciate it if you would all introduce yourselves and tell me one thing that you enjoy doing. I do wish to get to know all of you and this would be an excellent start. Who would like to begin?" One of the kids raised his hand, he was short, had black hair and was wearing glasses.

"Yes, Mister?" I wondered.

"Eli Pepperjack, Ma'am, and I love to do science. Also, are you related to Jim?" Eli wondered. I looked over to Jim and he was trying not to smile. I looked back to Eli and answered, "Yes, I am related to Jim, in fact, I am his older sister." I could hear whispers throughout the class and I saw that one kid, who looked like a jock, was completely flabbergasted by this discovery. I guess Jim kept it secret that the new English teacher was his sister.

"Alright, class. Settle down. Thank-you for being the first one to answer my questions, Eli. Who would like to go next?" I questioned.

Claire Nunez was the second one to stand up.

"My name is Claire Nunez and one of the things I enjoy doing is acting." She explained.

"Ah. Yes. You played Juliet in this year's school play. By the way, you guys did an excellent performance." I praised her. She smiled and sat down. Everyone introduced themselves and they told me something that they enjoyed doing.

After they were done, I explained, "Thank-you for telling me about yourselves. One thing that I enjoy doing is playing the piano. Now that we've got that covered, I would like you all to fill out a survey. Don't worry. This is not graded nor will you have to take it home tonight. I just want to know how much knowledge you have in English and from there I can decipher where to begin. You have about twenty minutes to fill this out. Once you're done, you are free to work on something else or you can whisper to the student next to you, but you are not allowed to leave your seat without my permission. As soon as you have the survey, you may begin."

Sitting at my desk, I waited for them to fill out the surveys. Once the class was done, the bell rang. Jim and Toby came up to me after class. "Good job, Mo. We would talk more, but we have to get back to class. Toby and I will meet you after school to head to Troll market." Jim explained.

"Sorry, Jim. I would love to come, but I have to get these paper reviewed so I can finalize this week's schedule. Once I'm done, I'll meet you at Troll market." I said. Jim sighed, but understood that I needed to get this figured out. The rest of the school day actually went quite well. The students were well-behaved, which surprised me because I'm only a couple years older than the seniors. I was expecting some of them not to listen to me.

After school, I heard an explosion coming from the science lab and I heard Toby screaming. I ran to the classroom. There was a large cat made completely out of fire! Toby spotted me and ran next to me. He quickly began explaining to me how he bought this rock from a shady troll during the party and he brought here to school. The next thing he knew, this fire cat popped out of the rock!

"Monica, what do we do?" He asked after he finished explaining. I grabbed a fire extinguisher and tried to put the flaming cat out. Sadly, it didn't work. It continued to approach us, which left Toby and I with only one option. Run.


	13. Return of the Trollhunter Part I

It was late in the night. The fire cat had been chasing us since school got out. We called Jim earlier and told him what had happened. He told us to keep running and he would figure these things out. Great. While he gets to be safe and sound, Toby and I have to run for our lives! We barely managed to dodge a car. At least, I managed to avoid it. Toby, on the other hand, hit the car and rolled across the hood. I ran over to him and helped him up. How much longer was Jim going to take? We can't keep running like this forever. We took a second to breathe, but it was cut short when we saw the fire cat approaching us.

"Oh, what are you doing, Tobes. Only an idiot would races a creature with four legs." Toby panted.

"Come on, Toby! We can do this. We just have to hold out for a little longer. Jim will be here any second. I'm sure of it." I encouraged him. In all honesty, I was starting to have doubts. We've been running from this creature for hours and Jim wasn't anywhere to be seen. By the time he reaches us, he would probably find our barbecued remains. In the distance, we noticed that there was a fence coming up. Crap! This is just what we needed. Toby tried crawling up it, but the fence fell over. I guess that settles that.

"Whoa!" Toby yelled. The fire cat was slowly stalking us. Ready to pounce. This was the end. Then, I heard a familiar sound. It was Jim's Vespa. I looked around and I spotted Jim coming, "Hop on!" I grabbed his hand and we all got on the bike driving away from the fire cat. What was that thing? We kept telling Jim to get going.

"Adios, fire cat." Jim said. He tried to started up the Vespa, but it started to short-circuit. Don't shut down. Don't shut down.

"Hey, maybe save the jokes when we aren't going to die." Toby said.

"Come on!" Jim yelled, then the tires started screeching and we were off. Yes! Toby kept trying to tell Jim to keep going and Jim said, "I can't believe that you took that stupid rock to science class, Toby. You could've gotten yourself or Monica killed."

"First, it's not a rock. It's a volcanic slag. And how was I supposed to know that there was a flaming monster in it?" Toby retorted. We really don't have time for this argument.

"You bought a magic rock off a troll named 'Mervin the Monster Dealer'. What did you think would happen, Tobes?" Jim asked. We pulled into an alley way, "Blinky, please tell me you have it."

"Of course, Master Jim! You've lured the luminaire right into our stratagem. " Blinky said.

"Stratagem?" Aaarrrgghh wondered.

"It means brilliant trap." I told him. We heard a growl and backed up. Whatever they have planned, they better execute it now. Blinky wasn't doing anything. He was just slowly backing away in fear. "What are you waiting for? Throw it!" Jim exclaimed.

"Um. Master Jim, you said that this was a luminaire, when that is obviously an infernal hellheeti." Blinky pointed out. Great. That means they don't have the weapon we need to defeat this creature. "Should I punch it?" Aaarrrgghh questioned, while Toby was throwing objects at the fire cat.

"Yeah, let him unleash the fury." Toby said. I continued backing away from the creature while Blinky said, "Not yet, Aaarrrgghh."

"It came from a rock. How many four-legged flaming creatures come out of rocks?" Jim wondered.

"As a matter of fact, eleven. Thirteen, if you consider-" Blinky was interrupted by Aaarrrgghh who shouted, "Can I punch it?"

"YES!" Jim, Toby, and I yelled at the same time while Blinky yelled no. Aaarrrgggh jumped up into the air and punched the creature. Instead of destroying it, it made it multiply. Dang it! It had split into three fire cats. What are we going to do?

"I was going to add, 'Make sure you do not feed the fire by attacking it!'" Blinky pointed out. Oops. Toby started panicking and I was trying my best not to panic, but if we didn't get out of this soon, I will start panicking.

"If we don't want to feed the fire, how do we put it out?" Jim questioned.

"You have sour sap, dew dredge, lumpkin oil-" Blinky was cut off by Jim, "What about water?"

"That would an obvious one. Where would we get enough of that?" Blinky wondered. We looked over to the fire hydrant. Jim yelled at Aaarrrgghh to throw him, and Jim sliced the fire hydrant, which sprouted water. He took out all the fire cats. We laughed. Toby and Aaarrrgghh did their handshake and Toby said, "Adios, fire cats."

"Well done, Master Jim. Another victory for our Trollhunter." Blinky praised.

"Trollhunters. Come, guys, it's a team effort." Jim corrected.

"Uh. Guys, the fire hydrant?" I questioned, then Aaarrrgghh jammed back into place. The only problem was that it was crooked. "Close enough."

"It's getting close to dawn. You guys better get back to Troll market." Jim told them. We got back on his Vespa and we went our seperate ways. School was going to be starting soon, so we needed to get as soon as possible.


	14. Return of the Trollhunter Part II

When we got back home, I started getting everything ready for school while Jim cooked breakfast. I really hope that Mom won't be mad at him for too long. I know that Jim feels bad, but he has to keep what he does secret from her because if she does know that he was the Trollhunter, she would be put in danger. Jim is hoping to make her feel better by making her favorite omelet. Honestly, I don't know if it will work.

"Morning, Mom!" Jim greeted as she came down the stairs.

"Hi." Mom said walking past Jim and I.

"I made your favorite breakfast." Jim said. Judging by Mom's expression, she was still not happy with Jim. Mom has been trying to get me to tell her what's been going on with Jim, but I kept telling her that was between Jim and I. Luckily, Mom understood that it wasn't my place to be telling her about what's been going on with Jim, so she isn't angry with me.

"Sorry, kido, I'm in a rush." Mom explained while grabbing a bowl of cereal and left the house. Jim set the plate down sadly and I put my arm around him, "Maybe you should tell her." Jim looked up at me as if I was crazy. "No, that could put her in danger. Mom already has enough on her plate and to tell her that I go into danger practically everyday will just give her more to worry about." That was the end of that conversation. Jim and I grabbed our bikes and met up with Toby. Honestly, I don't know why I don't just take my car and drive us to school.

"She turned down your famous egg white manchengo omelet?" Toby asked completely surprised.

"Yep." Jim confirmed.

"I mean, it's been a month, and she's still not talking to you the whole hospital thing? I thought Monica cleared that all up." Toby wondered.

"Hey, she wants to know why Jim keeps coming home with bruises and scratches. She's worried about him. Can you blame her?" I retorted.

"Brutal. You know a woman is beyond angry when she starts dishing out the silent treatment." Toby said. That is true, I guess.

"I don't how to fix this unless I tell her the truth. But if I do, they'll send me to the crazy house." Jim said.

"And you had to go and make things worse by promising Claire that we were gonna save her brother." Toby pointed out.

"He's trapped in the Darklands, Tobes. I can't just leave him there, Tobes." Jim retorted.

"You know who else is in the Darklands? Gunmar." Toby said. He starting biking ahead of Jim while Jim said, "Don't remind me." We arrived at school and I quickly went to my classroom getting everything set up. As the school day went by, I kept hearing whispers about what happened to Strickler. I didn't know what happened to him. I don't even think Strickler will come back. He would be foolish to do so. When school was over, I was slightly shocked to Claire Nunez with Toby and Jim. What is she doing here?

"Hi, Claire!" I greeted. She turned to me and waved, "Hi, Ms. Lake." I am so not used to people calling me Ms. Lake. I guess I have to get used to it since I'm the teacher, "School's out, Ms. Nunez. Feel free to call me Monica." Jim explained to me that they were taking Claire to Troll market today. I guess I'm going to have to get used to having Claire around. It's weird having another girl in the group, but I could tell that Claire was going to be a great addition to the team.

"Are you ready?" Jim asked once we reached the canals. Claire stood there slightly nervous, but I could tell that she was excited too. "If this helps me get my brother back, yeah, I'm ready."

"Just remember. Saving Enrique is our little secret. If any of them found out-" Jim started remind her, but he was cut off, "Don't worry. Lips are sealed." Claire promised.

"Now, you're going to want to start drawing a semi-circle Oh! You have it. Okay, never mind." Toby said when he saw that Claire had drawn it already. I smirked at this. She put her hand in the semi-circle and the entrance to Troll market opened. "Wow." Claire sighed as she observed everything inside.

The crystal staircase formed and Claire said, "The crystal staircase. This is more than I... I-I never would have." She dashed down the stairs in excitement.

"Oh... Hold up a sec! We need a few ground rules here, okay? The locals are not friendly to outsiders. The first time we came here, Jim almost got killed." Toby explained when he caught up to Claire, but Claire dashed right past him. "You think she heard any of that?"

"Not a word." Jim confirmed. We ran as fast as we could to catch up to her. "It's.. It's beautiful." She said as we finally caught up to her. "Welcome to Heartstone Troll market."

"This place is beyond- it's beyond beyond. I want to live down here! Can I live down here?" Claire asked she started dragging Jim down the stairs.

"Mm, yeah, no. I don't think so. I don't think that's a good id-" Once again, he was cut short when Claire dashed off. Great. We ran to keep up with her and soon found her with Blinky and Aaarrrgghh.

"Jim told me you helped him face Draal and slay Bular. And that Vespa. Best birthday ever. Your wisdom must rival that of the Venerable Bedehilde." Claire complimented as she observed Blinky. Blinky gasped and said, "You've read _A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore_?"

"Volumes 1 through 47. It took me a while to decipher they symbols. But, once I got past the Fifth Declension, I started to get the hang of it." Claire explained. Blinky twirled her in the air and exclaimed, "She read the book! She read the book!" He set her down and Claire took off again. "She's a flower." Aaarrrgghh said. We tried catching up to Claire as she was naming off all the places Jim and Toby told her about. When did they have time to tell all of these things?

When we finally caught up to her, we were horrified to see that she had run into Vendel. "No! I accepted a human Trollhunter, allowed the pudgy one to stay for moral support, and even allowed his older sister to stay because she would try to keep those two out of trouble. Then, I heard that his older sister is the Wielder of the Thriskule, so now she is definitely allowed to stay. But, this. A fourth? It's an infestation!" Vendel exclaimed angrily. Jim was about to explain, but Claire began speaking in a different language.

"She's speaks Troll. And Troll market is honored to have you as well. Oh, Blinkous! If only the amulet had chosen such a learned and delightful flesh bag." Vendel praised. Jim was offended by this. When Vendel left, Toby asked, "You speak Troll?"

"Yes, Not Enrique's been tutoring me." Claire said.

"You are going to have to teach me sometime, Claire." I said. Claire smiled and agreed to it.

"That was awesome, Claire. Vendel loves you and he hates everyone!" Jim exclaimed. Claire walked up to Blinky and asked,

"Mr. Blinky, Troll market is amazing and there's so many cool things. But, if it's okay, there's one thing I have to see."


	15. Return of the Trollhunter Part III

What she asked to see, was the remains of Killahead Bridge. That was where we were heading right now. Aaarrrgghh went up to the stone gate and put his hand on it. When the gate opened, we saw the remains of the Bridge.

"The Bridge." Aaarrrgghh said. Claire let go of Jim's hand, which surprisingly I didn't notice earlier that she was holding it. "More specific. What used to be Killahead Bridge. Every piece accounted for, even the Eye Stone. Hopefully, this will give the girl some closure. She does understand why we cannot allow the Bridge to open?" Blinky wondered looking at the three of us.

"She knows." I said watching Claire. Honestly, I couldn't imagine what she must feeling. To have your brother trapped in the Darklands and the possibility of him never returning. I also know that if there was anyone who could get Enrique back, it would be Jim.

"Well, you said it yourself, we'd be fools to open the Bridge and risk letting Gunmar out. Right, Jim?" Toby asked nudging him. Jim snapped out of his trance and said, "Oh, of course. We'd be crazy to do that." Claire touched the Eye Stone and said some words that I couldn't hear. She must've been talking to her brother. Once she was done, she walked back over to us wiping away a tear.

"Thank-you for giving me that." Claire said. Blinky nodded and said, "Young Tobias and Miss Monica, would you be so kind as to give Miss Claire the rest of the tour? I need to share a word with our Trollhunter." We both nodded and walked out of the room. There was one stop left to go that Claire had to see. The Hero's Forge.

"Prepare yourself for the Sacred Grounds, where Trollhunters are broken and remade into warriors. The Hero's Forge!" Toby exclaimed over dramatically. In the distance, I saw Draal working on his father's statue. He finally found all of his remains.

"All this for one Trollhunter?" Claire wondered.

"I mean, Monica and I train here too, when we need to up our game, maximize our squat cores. You know, hero stuff." Toby explained trying to show off. Claire wasn't paying attention. "Whoa. Is that Draal? Kanjigar's son?" She asked walking over to him.

"In the flesh... stone. Stone flesh." Toby corrected as he followed her. "What's that statue he's making?" Claire wondered.

"Actually-" I was interrupted by Draal.

"I do not make statues. This is my father." Draal corrected.

"Took a while to track down all of his remains. Hate to be there when we have to build Jim, right? What a mess." Toby joked. I punched him in the arm. "I would also be sorry for the person who would have to deal with Monica's wrath if she isn't killed before Jim. Well, I just grossed myself out." That's better.

"You fight in an arena surrounded by the remains of dead Trollhunters? That is... the most heroic thing I have ever seen. Can we turn it on?" Claire asked running around to find a switch. "Maybe now is not the best time." Toby said trying to catch up with her.

Before I knew it, the entire arena activated. Oh no! The floors beneath us started to split and I clutched on to a random part of the arena. Claire and I were right next to each other and we were somewhat fine for the time being. Toby, on the other hand, wasn't. He was several feet away and he didn't look like he was going to last much longer.

"Claire, Monica!" Jim shouted. We waved him off, "We're fine for now! Help him!" Claire yelled. "I swear, I didn't touch anything!" Toby yelled.

"The controls!" Draal yelled trying to push them, "This blasted arm!" Claire would've fallen to her death, but I managed to catch her at the last second. There was no way I was going to let one of my students get hurt, plus she was my brother's crush.

"There's a manual kill switch inside the Soothscryer! Go, Master Jim!" Blinky ordered. Jim managed to get to Toby and helped him up. Suddenly, the floor was shifting over and I barely managed to grab a hold of the edge. Oh no!

"Okay. We could use your help now!" I shouted struggling to hold on. "I'm coming! Just hold on!" Jim yelled.

"Turn it off!" Claire shouted. I can't hold on much longer. My fingers slipped and Claire and I both screamed as we were falling. Then, the floors started turning back to normal and we ended up being alright.

"Is this normal?" Claire asked as Toby helped both of us up. "Nothing is normal around here. Get used to it, sister." The Soothscryer started glowing. "It's calling to him, at last." Blinky said. Suddenly, Jim was sucked into it. We tried calling out to him, but he didn't answer. That's when Aaarrrgghh explained that there was no Jim. What does he mean? What happened to my brother?

"You guys better have a good explanation for this and he better be coming back! I don't want to be the one to explain to Mom that my little brother suddenly just disappeared to who know where!" I shouted freaking out.

"He has been summoned. He has been summoned to the Void!" Blinky said.

"What do you mean, he's in the Void. The Void sounds like a very empty word. A bad word." I said while trying to calm myself down, but I was failing miserably. Toby and Claire agreed with me.

"Yeah. And are these happy ghosts we're talking about here? Or soul-sucking poltergeists?" Toby wondered.

"They will not suck his soul. They will merely peer into it. He is now under the guidance of Master Trollhunters." Blinky explained more carefully this time. "Ghost guidance counselors? Jim gets all the cool stuff." Toby complained. Kind of reminds me of the show Avatar: the Last Airbender like how Aang can seek council from his past lives. We saw a blue glow and Jim appeared.

"Hey! You're back from the other side, dude!" Toby cheered.

"Wow! So, trolls and ghosts exist. What's next? _A Midsummer Night's Dream_? Fairies?" Claire wondered.

"Fairies? Preposterous! Fairies lost the war to the pixies centuries ago. What did they say?" Blinky asked referring about Enrique.

"They said they won't stop us." Jim told us. Then, Draal spoke, "What would my father stop you from?" I guess we never told him about saving Enrique from the Darklands.

"From going into the Darklands. But, if we're going in, they said the only way we're getting out alive is if we kill Gunmar. And with Strickler gone, maybe we have a chance." Jim explained. Even with Strickler gone, it would still be extremely difficult to defeat Gunmar.


	16. Mudslinging Part I

I heard a yelp coming from Jim's room. Another nightmare. He's been having these nightmares for the past few days and I was getting worried for him. When will these nightmares stop? Jim and I got ready for school and we picked up Toby in my car. Today was a gym assembly and all teachers and students were required to attend. I would've liked to sit with Jim and Toby, but I had to sit over by the teachers. Music started playing and Coach Lawrence walked up to the podium while the school's mascot danced around.

"Give me an A!" Coach Lawrence shouted and the students shouted A. "Give me R! Give me a C! This is taking way to long. Give me an Adia! What's that spell? Arcadia! Go moles! Go moles." He shoved our school's mascot out of the way while the students were cheering. This announcement was for the candidates for the Spring Fling, "Before we begin, I have a few announcements." He began saying the announcements until The Mole ran into Coach Lawrence. We all laughed at this and Coach Lawrence yelled, "Hey! Alright, Mole! That's enough! Go back into your burrow or whatever!" He ordered.

"Okay. Principal Levit has taken ill with the flu. He's asked me to handle announcing the students the faculty's nominated for the year-end Spring Fling King and Queen. The nominees are: Shannon Longhannon, I'll pronounce it soon, Shannon. Darci Scott! The third and final nominee is... Mary Wang! And now for the boys, Steve Palchuck!" Coach announced.

"That's right, plebes! Obvious!" Steve shouted. So much for sportsmanship. Coach Lawrence continued, "I know yeah. Get over here, Steve. Eli Pepperjack!" There was some booing while Eli was cheering about how he had friends. "Hey, no booing. And finally, Jim Lake Junior." I looked over at Jim and he was completely shocked. I was happy for him, but he needed to focus on Gunmar. He couldn't be distracted by this.

"Our nominees will compete in a series of challenges to win your vote. Each nominee will propose a theme for the dance. I like disco! I like to boogie! That is all." Coach Lawrence finished and I got back to class. I would've liked to congratulate Jim, but I had work to do.

After school, Jim, Toby, Claire, and I went to Troll market. Jim was going to train with Kanjigar while I was going to continue training with Draal. Once Jim entered the Void, Draal and I began my training.

"It is important to master the skill set of both the bow and the daggers. The Thriskule has many secrets and it takes years for the Wielder to fully understand it's power. It is said that in the their time of need, The Thriskule can be wielded by the Trollhunter. In return, Daylight can also be wielded by the Wielder, but only in their time of need. You have been chosen for a reason, Monica. For what purpose, I do not know." Draal explained while we fought. Draal knocked the Thriskule out of my hands and I fell to the ground.

"Blinky thinks that there could possibly be a war on the rise. I have the ability to turn the tides of war. How many Wielders have there been in the past? Was this weapon created by Merlin too?" I wondered while Draal helped me up and answered,

"It is true that the Wielder has the ability to turn the tides of a war. It is unknown to us how many Wielders there were because the Thriskule became lost to us for several centuries until it's Wielder, a troll named Rigurd, came and aided us during the Battle of Killahead. We would've lost that war if Rigurd hadn't showed up. The Thriskule wasn't created by Merlin. It was created by Morgan Le Fey, better known as Morgana. Morgana crafted the Thriskule when she was a student for Merlin. She was the first Wielder. When Merlin defeated Morgana, Merlin took the Thriskule and he did his own enchantments to it. He made sure that it could never be wielded by Morgana again and he connected the Thriskule to the Amulet. Like the Amulet, when the Wielder dies it chooses another, but, unlike the Amulet, it will only chose another Wielder if war is on the rise."

Then, Jim came back from the Void and Draal and walked up to him. "Jim, did you see my father?" Draal asked.

"I did." Jim said. He walked past Draal and I could tell it didn't go well in the Void. "Did he speak of me?" Draal wondered.

"Yeah. He wished the Soothscryer could let you in, but, you know, the rules are the rules." Jim lied. Draal looked down and sighed, "It's alright, Trollhunter, you don't have to lie to protect my feelings." I put my hand on Draal's shoulder.

"He said, we can't kill Gunmar. I would only be leading my friends and family to their death." Jim explained. Draal looked up and said, "Too bad. I was looking forward to proving him wrong." Jim chuckled and said, "So was I." Then, Aaarrrgghh came in.

"Aaarrrgghh, what's wrong?" I asked. He looked at us and answered,

"Blinky."


	17. Mudslinging Part II

Jim, Aaarrrgghh, and I ran over to Blinky's library and found him muttering excitedly to himself. Claire and Toby were also there and they were just as confused as we were. "How long as he been like this?" Jim wondered.

"Long time." Aaarrrgghh answered. Jim and I looked at each other rather worried. I don't think I've ever seen Blinky like this. "Maybe you should switch to decaf." Jim suggested.

"According to legend, only one scholar, the Dishonorable Bodus, uncovered a method of wounding Gunmar." Blinky explained looking at Jim and I. "The Trollhunters just told me there wasn't any way. How do you do it?" Jim asked.

"No one knows. Gunmar had Bodus and his students hunted down and dispatched in a most unpleasant manner. But here, this book, The Final Testament of Bodus. This is the last surviving of his work. This is the key!" Blinky exclaimed, "And I'm going to burn it." What? He wouldn't, but he did. He lit the book on fire! I was horrified not just by the fact that he was destroying our only way of defeating Gunmar, but I was also horrified that he was burning a book! How could somebody do that?

We started protesting about how important the book was, but Blinky wouldn't hear it. He kept holding us back as we tried to put the book out and tried explaining that Bodus was being hunted and how Bodus knew that he had to keep it secret.

"Burn! Baby, burn!" Blinky yelled. Then, Claire pulled a blanket over the burning book, "No, don't."

"Did Blinky just destroy our only chance of defeating Gunmar?" Toby asked not believing what had just happened. "Or getting my baby brother." Claire also pointed out. Blinky better have a good reason for this.

"You don't understand. Bodus hid the secret within the book. Watch." Blinky said and blew the ashes away. There was writing. Amazing! Looks like Blinky knew what he was doing after all. "It's a message." Claire said.

"Aha! I'm so glad that worked." Blinky said while rubbing his hands together and grinning like a maniac. Wait. He didn't know if it would work! "What does it say?" Jim questioned.

"In darkest tide, when Daylight darest wane, the Myrddin Wylt obscured a Shadow's bane." Blinky was interrupted by Toby. "What's a Myrddin Wylt?"

"It an ancient name for Merlin. " I answered. I've been reading some of Blinky's books in my spare time. Then, Claire asked, "Shouldn't someone be taking a picture of this or something?"

Blinky looked at her and continued, "Three forces elemental though must seek. In marshland, caverns deep, and mountain's peak. Where worthy perish, ye will prepare in night and eclipse all who quarry with thy might." Wow.

"Does anyone else feel freaked out by this perish poem?" Toby asked. Then, Jim said, "No, it said we can prevail. We can win! He hid a Shadow's bane!"

"Gumnar's bane?" Aaarrrgghh questioned. Blinky walked away explaining, "It's referencing a weapon of insurmountable power, formed by three forces unhallowed. Of course! It must be the Triumbric stones! Three shards of legend tied to Gunmar's lifeblood, lost to the ages. If we seek out these stones-"

"We can kill Gunmar! Blinky, you madman, you did it!" Jim exclaimed. Then, Toby said, "We make the weapon and wham! Gunmar is done-mar."

"Caution." Aaarrrgghh warned.

"Indeed! The Triumbric stones have been hidden for centuries, but if I can decipher this text, Master Jim, then you shall." Blinky confirmed.

"Eclipse all who quarry with thy might." I repeated.

When we were done, we left for home. I was worried about having to face Mom again. She is driving Jim and I nuts with where we've been going. I don't blame her. I would've been worried too. I texted her earlier to tell her that we were going to see a movie at 5:30 and hang out at the park afterwards and eat dinner. She wanted to know how long we were hanging out at the park and I told her that we would be there for a few hours. Of course, we were actually at Troll market that entire time. By the time we got home, it was 11:30 p.m. She is going to be so mad that we stayed out for so long. I told Jim about what I told Mom, so that he wouldn't be confused about what Mom was talking about.

"Hey, Mom! We're home!" Jim called out as we walked into the house.

"Where have you two been?" Mom demanded. From the look on her face, I could tell she was angry at us.

"Mom, calm down. Toby, Jim, Claire, and I were at the park after the movie for a few hours and ate supper. Then, we went to get ice-cream at McDonald's." I lied, "I'm sorry I didn't call you to tell you that. I completely forgot." I hated lying to her, but I couldn't tell her where we really were. Jim sent me a grateful look. As much as I love my brother, he was so going to owe me for this. Mom calmed down and I could tell that she was just relieved to see that we were okay.

"Alright. Next time you do that call me. Please. I was getting worried about you two. You two better get to bed. Goodnight." She said and she gave us both hugs. We said good night and we went up to our room and quickly fell asleep.


	18. Mudslinging Part III

The next day, I was working at the school. I was preoccupied with grading papers from the past couple days. I informed Coach Lawrence that I would be late to the assembly and he said it would be fine as long as I showed up. When they began gathering for the assembly, Jim burst into my classroom.

"The things I do for Toby! Where am I supposed to find a costume?" He exclaimed. That's when I realized that he was just wearing the outfit he wore everyday to school. Yeah. He forgot that today was the day for the costume idea. He looked over to me and asked, "Do you have any idea that would be a good theme for a dance in here? I only have a few minutes."

I smirked and said, "Sorry, little bro. Teachers aren't permitted to give ideas the contestants for dance. It would look like I'm showing favoritism and we're not supposed to do that." Jim groaned, "What am I supposed to be Stapler Man? Huh." He paused and looked out the window.

"What is it, Jim? " I wondered as I walked next to him. He kept looking out the window and asked, "What is that?" That's when I glanced outside. The creature outside look similar to a mummified corpse. Creepy. We ran outside to get a better look as Coach Lawrence was announcing that the assembly would begin in two minutes.

We searched the soccer field, but there was no sign of the creature. Where did he go? Jim spotted some mud on the ground. That looked like it was just dug up. We walked away, but the ground started rumbling. We both turned around to see a giant hand shooting from the ground! What the heck? Jim and I dodged as the hand came slamming into the ground. When it got out of the ground, it was huge! How are we going to defeat this thing?

"Um, hi! I know that we just met, but what are you?" Jim questioned. Suddenly, the creature knocked Jim out of the way. I quickly summoned the Thriskule. Time to see what these so called powers of the Thriskule can do. I focused on the bow and it transformed into daggers. I quickly threw them at the creature and it sliced through it. I was about to cheer, but the strike didn't seem to affect it. Crap!

"Uh. Okay. I get it. Strong. Slow moving. Silent type." Jim was knocked to the side yet again. I kept firing arrow after arrow. "Okay. If you're going to play dirty. For the Glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command." His armor appeared on him. He charged at the creature and stuck his sword in his side, but it didn't come out. "That wasn't supposed to happen. Monica, a little help?" Jim yelled. I ran over and my Thriskule transformed into daggers.

I sliced at the creatures legs and the creature slammed its hand against me, which sent me flying across the field. My bones screamed with pain and I looked over to see Jim being thrown into the goalie. Score I for the big guy. I got back up and I went to go help Jim up. We managed to cripple the beast, but it quickly grew back it's hand and leg. Then, Jim sliced it chest and we noticed a small statue in it.

"Monica!" Jim shouted. I knew exactly what he wanted me to do. Jim sliced the mud giant's chest again and I sent an arrow flying threw and it struck the statue. The giant fell and we quickly broke the statue so it wouldn't be able to rise again. We took a breather until we heard Coach Lawrence's voice over the intercom.

"Jim Lake? Lake, are you here?" Then, we realized that Jim didn't have a costume. We were about to run over there, but Jim managed to slip and fall into mud. Great! This is perfect! Jim and I darted towards the gym. We both entered the gym different ways. I don't know how this event was going to go. Everyone was confused at first, but suddenly people started chanting Mole Mania. Jim ended up winning the costume contest! Claire announced that he was the winner, but Coach Lawrence took the microphone away from her, clearly annoyed, but he still declared Jim the winner for the themed dance.

"Anyways. There has been a sudden departure. I have heard word that Principal Levit has taken an indefinite leave of absence. We wish him well. But, he sent an email recommending an intern replacement, which we all support. Please welcome, Principal Strickler!" Coach Lawrence announced. I stared in shock as Strickler walked up to the microphone and said,

"I'm very glad to be back and excited to get started. But, let it be known, with me in charge, things are going to change."


	19. A Night to Remember

Having to stay behind from the quest stunk, but it was necessary. We needed to keep Strickler off our trail and I needed to keep my job. I don't know what Strickler would do if he found out that Jim, Claire, Toby, and I were gone for a few days and I definitely don't want to know what he would do if he discovered what we were gone for.

After they left and I was done with grading papers, I took advantage of being alone in the house. I did a very crazy version of karaoke. I only ever do this if I'm home alone. Mainly because if Jim or Mom ever saw what I did, I would never hear the end of their laughter. I'm not the best singer, but I do get into my songs. And by getting into my songs, I mean that I dance and sing as crazy as I can, jump onto our coffee table, and pretend that I'm playing the electric guitar. Like I said, I hope that Jim and Mom never find out about this.

While I was doing my third song for karaoke, I heard someone in the basement. Crap! I forgot that Draal was here, which meant that he probably was hearing the entire thing. I stumbled around and turned off the TV and I headed downstairs. I opened the door to the basement and I caught Draal on the other side. Why was I so stupid? I couldn't believe that I forgot about him. I could feel my cheeks heating up and I nervously scratched the back off my head.

"How much did you hear?" I weakly asked. I'm pretty sure he could tell that I was rather embarrassed.

"I was here the entire time. May I ask what you were doing?" Draal wondered. Oh right. He's never heard of karaoke. An idea suddenly popped into my head.

"I'll show you what I was doing, if you swear never to tell anyone about this. Especially Jim." I bargained. Draal thought for a moment and agreed to it. I brought him to the living room and turned on the the television. I explained to him what karaoke was. He was resistant to the idea of singing at first, but I managed to persuade him by offering to buy him some tacos. Then, I played him the song, which was _Don't Stop Believing_ by Journey.

This is one of my absolute favorite songs. After we finished listening to the song, Draal and I went to the machine, clicked on the song, and began to sing the lyrics. Together, we were Dranica, the worst singing duo in history! When we were finished, we both looked at each and started laughing. We should do this more often.

Looking outside, I asked, "Hey, Draal. Do you want to go for a walk? It's a nice night out." Draal smiled and nodded. We went outside and started walking through the woods. It was beautiful outside.

"How does it feel now that your father's remains are placed in the Hero's Forge?" I questioned after realizing I'd never actually asked him about it.

"He has taken his rightful place among the fallen Trollhunters, but there are times where I still miss him. I just hope that I am making him proud." Draal admitted. I smiled and put my hand on his shoulder,

"I'm sure that you are, Draal. I mean, look at what all you've done. You retrieved the Amulet from Killahead Bridge, you have been protecting the Trollhunter and his family, and saved all of us time and time again. It would be insane to think that Kanjigar wouldn't be proud of you." I assured him. He was quiet for a moment, then asked,

"If you don't mind me asking, what was your father like?" I stopped walking unsure of how to respond. Finally, after a couple minutes, I answered,

"My father was in the military. When he was around, he knew how to make the whole room laugh with his stories. He would always play games with Jim and I and he made Mom the happiest woman in the world. He left our family for another woman when Jim had just turned five and I was ten at the time. When he left, Mom told us that we would have to take better care of each other. She would try to act brave for us, but in the night, I could hear her sobbing in her room. Jim did his best to take care of the both of us while I was in denial of the whole thing. I didn't want to think that Dad would just abandon us. He used to tell me that we were his whole world and that nothing could replace it. Over time, I realized that he really wasn't coming back and I broke. I felt betrayed. I secluded myself from everyone and fell into a state of depression. I wouldn't eat and I barely slept. It would've gotten worse, if it hadn't been for Jim. He's the one who got me through everything. He would do his best to try to make me smile and he was the only one who got me to eat. I made a promise to myself that I would always be there for Jim when he needed me and that I would be a better sister to him. So that he would never feel alone."

When I was finished, I realized that tears were streaming down my cheeks. I had never opened up that much to anyone other than my mother or Jim before. Draal put his hand on my shoulder and said,

"You are lot stronger than you give yourself credit for, Monica. I can now clearly see why the Thriskule chose you to be it's Wielder." My cheeks turned tomato red. Before I could respond, I noticed my mother coming up the street.

"We need to get back to the house." I stated. We ran back to the house as fast as we could and we managed to beat my mother home. Before Draal was about to head into the basement, I said, "Thank-you." He turned to me and replied,

"No problem. If you ever need anyone to talk to, you know where to find me."


	20. Blinky’s Day Out Part I

**Jim's POV**

When I was walking back to my house after the quest, I noticed that there was someone parked next to it. When my mother got out of the car, I knew who was in it. Strickler. As he was saying goodbye to my mother, I sneaked into the back of his car and waited for him to close his door. Once he did, he noticed that I was behind him,

"Young Atlas, is that-" I interrupted him by bringing out Daylight and threatening, "If I ever see you near her again." Then, he interrupted me, "I expected this time would come."

"Oh yeah. Give me one good reason not to do away with you right now." I demanded.

"Did you happen to see my companion watching you the other day? He's my assassin with... how should I put this? Enchanting abilities." Strickler explained. I thought back to the guy planting the small statue in the soccer field.

"That was you? What do you mean 'enchanting'?" I questioned.

"He entwined your mother's fate with mine. Any harm you do to me will be done to your mother. Also, he has orders to assassinate your sister if I were to ever feel threatened." Strickler said. He grazed his finger on Daylight and said ouch.

"Ouch!" My mother yelped as she dropped the plate. Monica ran into the room and asked if was alright. She turned to my sister and said, "I'm fine. I just grazed my finger." When Monica left, she wondered, "How did that happen?" No. Monica. My mother. I couldn't let him hurt them.

"Hmm. What happens to me happens to her. You've hurt your mother enough, Jim. Do you want to cause her more pain by losing her daughter too? So, what will it be?" Strickler questioned. My hands shook in rage, but I willed Daylight to disappear and I got out of Strickler's car. I couldn't bear to see either of them hurt.

 **Monica's POV**

While Jim was speaking with the previous Trollhunters, Draal and I were strolling through Troll market when we saw a human run past us. What was another human doing in Troll market? How did he get in? Draal and I looked at each other then ran for the Hero's Forge. We called out for Jim and he appeared almost instantly. We about to tell him about the intruder, but he already knew about it. Apparently, Kanjigar told him about it.

We ran back towards the crowd of trolls that were gathered around the captured human. They were debating on what to do with him.

"Hey. Stop! Let him go. I'm the Trollhunter. I'll deal with it. Let him go." Jim demanded. The troll let go of the rope and the bag that had the intruder inside dropped. We walked over to the bag and a man in his early thirties popped out.

"Oh. Thank-you, Master Jim." The man said. How does he know my brother's name? We've never met him before. Jim pointed the sword at the man and questioned, "How did you get past Troll market's barrier and how do you know my name?"

"Master Jim, it's me. Blinky." The man replied. There is absolutely no way that he could be Blinky.

"No, he lies." Aaarrrgghh protested. Then, Draal said, "Strike the fleshbag down. He's seen too much."

"I can prove it! Your mother is Barbara Lake and your sister is Monica Lake. Your best friend is Tobias Domzalski. Your father disappeared when you were five and when Monica was ten." The man explained. How could he know that?

"The changeling spy has studied you." Draal stated. The man continued, "And we just replaced the ignition on your Vespa last week." The man backed up as Jim moved forward with his sword at the man's throat.

"Did Strickler put you up to this? You're working for him, aren't you? How did you get in here? I won't ask again." Jim demanded. The man simply flicked the sword to the side and stated, "I do not appreciate your tone of voice, Master Jim. Is this the way you address an errant stranger in need? I expect more from you." It is Blinky.

"Blinky? You look terrible." Jim said. Aaarrrgghh laughed as he poked Blinky and commented on how squishy he was. My head was still trying to wrap around how this could even have happened. Jim explained to me the other day of how the quest went. They successfully got the stone, but they retrieved in a disgusting way. Also, ever since Jim got back, he's been acting strange. I've tried to get him to talk to me, but he wouldn't tell me what was bothering him.

"Among other things, my considerable companion." Blinky explained. Draal sniffed him and asked, "What sorcery is at work here?"

"Haven't the foggiest. But, there is one troll in Troll market who will know." Blinky said. Well, as interesting as this was, I needed to go back home and plan out this week's lessons. I departed from the others and went back home to where things made sense. Somewhat.


	21. Blinky’s Day Out Part II

While Blinky and Jim went to Vendel, Draal and I went back home through a passageway that Draal apparently built a while. Jim is also unaware that we have a tunnel in the basement, but when he figures it out, it is going to be hilarious. Draal tried to help me plan out assignments, but it did not go over very well. Once I got done planning out the weeks lessons and assignments, Blinky and Jim came through the door. Just in time.

Blinky went to the fridge and began grabbing some of our food. This is something that I will have to get used to.

"There's so much I want to do. So much I haven't seen. I've never cared much for human food, but the flavor, the texture." He said while chowing down on some cereal. If only I had two more hands to eat faster. What do you call this cuisine?"

"Leftovers." I answered simply. Blinky continued to scour through our kitchen while Not Enrique said, "I can't even look at you. Your whole body is like an old sauce's left on the grill."

"Very amusing. Who invited him?" Blinky asked.

"It's boring sitting around the crib all day. When I heard you changed, I didn't know it wasn't into a fat, balding, hot fudge sundae." Not Enrique laughed. While Not Enrique was taunting Blinky, I noticed that Jim and Draal were talking, but I couldn't hear what they were saying because I was trying to make sure that Blinky didn't hurt himself.

"It's filled with glop, yet the exterior is so soft and squishy. How do they keep it all in?" Then, we all heard his stomach rumble. "I think my stomach is trying to communicate with me." Not Enrique held a cup to his stomach and commented, "That ain't your stomach pal after eating a buffet like that fleshy inner tube of a body is about to spring a leak." Blinky's stomach started grumbling some more and Blinky said, "Oh dear." Then, he sprang for the bathroom. He ran into the wall though.

"This is absurd. How can you function with only two eyes?" He complained then went upstairs.

"You didn't happen to overhear who Strickler brought back with him, did you? Some troll with big horns and a weird staff, maybe?" Jim wondered. I've been curious about who that creepy troll was in the park as well.

"Sorry, I do not know." Draal answered.

"Yeah, well, neither do we." Jim said. Suddenly, I heard a very familiar sound coming from outside. Shoot!

"Ah! Mom's home! Everyone hide!" I yelled. Everyone scrambled to hide. Not Enrique wasn't sure where to hide, so Jim threw him in the freezer. We heard the toilet flush upstairs. Great Blinky is upstairs. Jim to shove Not Enrique into the freezer and we heard Blinky coming downstairs. We heard Mom gasp and say, "I don't care what your doing, but if you're not out of my house in five seconds, I have an orange belt in Krav Maga, and I will not hesitate to use it." Oh dear. She isn't lying. I remember having to babysit Jim while she was at her Krav Maga lessons.

"I can explain if you'll just allow me to-" Then, we heard yelling. We finally got Not Enrique into the freezer and we ran over to Mom, who had knocked Blinky to the ground.

"Mom! Wait, wait, he's with us!" Jim and I yelled.

"Jim? Monica? Oh! Wait, wait. What? I'm sorry who are you?" Mom asked while helping Blinky up. We stuttered for a moment, then Jim said, "He's Mr. Blinky." Then, Mom dropped him which sent us to the floor. Thanks, Mom. We really appreciate it.

"Okay. What has Jim done now?" Mom questioned. We should've thought through this beforehand.

"No, no, no. Jim isn't in any sort of trouble. I'm here to... assist." Blinky stated.

"Yeah. He's... Jim's guidance counselor from the school." I explained.

"Since when do guidance counselors make house calls?" Mom wondered.

"I'm new." Blinky explained. Then, Jim put in, "Principal Strickler just brought him in." Blinky began to talk to our mother explaining how I had asked him to help Jim out because I knew something was going on with him. Then, he proceeded to explain about having our dad walk out on our lives was traumatic. Jim and I tried to signal him to stop, but he kept on going. Then, Mom turned around to us, "If you needed to talk to someone..."

"Well, you're kind of always busy." Jim explained.

"That's what this is about? The trouble you've been getting into and the late nights and the strange behavior?" Mom wondered.

"The letter. I wasn't sure how to tell you and I had to tell someone. I spoke to Monica about it and she has helped me through a lot, but she didn't have all the answers that I needed, so she's been going with me to see Mr. Blinky. Mr. Blinky has helped me through a lot of stuff." Jim explained.

"Mr. Blinky?" Mom questioned. Then, Blinky explained, "Bulgarian. It's pronounced Blink-heh." Mom hugged both of us and thanked Blinky and apologized for punching him earlier. Blinky told her the pain is tolerable and Mom went to the kitchen to write down her number.

"You know I don't care about my father." Jim whispered angrily.

"You do now." Blinky stated. Mom walked back into the room and said, "If this helps Jim work out, you know, what he's- I mean, well, what we're going through, I just want to be supportive. Just let me know if there's anything I can do." Blinky was beginning to explain about the issue in his stomach, but Claire and Toby burst through the door. Well this is just great. Such great timing.


	22. Blinky’s Day Out Part III

"Is it true? Is it really true?" Claire wondered as she and Toby entered the room. Then, Toby said, "We came as soon as we heard-oh. Hi, Dr. L!" I noticed Toby's eyes widen with excitement when he saw Blinky. Before Mom got suspicious of what they were talking about, Claire said, "So it is true. You really can get here in under ten minutes." Not the best cover up, but it will do.

"Awesome sauce!" Toby shrieked as he stared at Blinky. I couldn't help but laugh at his reaction.

"Uh. I was just introducing my mother to Mr. Blinky, our guidance counselor." Jim informed. Toby did catch on to what he meant, but he worded it the wrong way, "Nice to meet you." Then, Claire elbowed him and corrected him by saying, "Good to see you again." Then, I noticed that she was holding Not Enrique. Looks like he couldn't stand the cold any longer. Mom was confused, but before she could say anything, Claire continued, "Do you mind if we borrow your son, daughter, and Mr. Blinky? "

"We're burning sunlight, Dr. L. You know what I mean?" Toby wondered.

"Oh yes. Of course, go." Mom said. Before we left, I noticed that Mom grabbed Jim. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I'm guessing she was confused if Claire came in with the baby.

"So, what now, Blink? It's your big day!" Toby exclaimed. Blinky walked around and listed the possible things that he wanted to do like brunch, picnic at the park, sunbath at the beach, boogie board, and driving the automobile.

Then, Claire walked up to us and said, "Well, the day is almost with over, but I think I know just the place." Claire said. We began hiking up a hill and I recognized where we were going. The overlook. It was a beautiful place, but I would rather not go there. Not exactly a great memory for me.

"We're almost there!" Claire announced.

"Who voted for hiking? I thought we were supposed to be doing cool outdoor activities!" Toby huffed. Why do we have to be here of all places? I kept quiet though. I didn't want to ruin Blinky's big day. Then, we arrived. The place was littered with wine bottles and at first Blinky didn't understand why we were here. But, we pointed the real reason out. The sunset over the city. I smiled, but it disappeared when I heard the distant sound of laughter.

Suddenly, I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Toby speak, "So, your first day as a human is almost to a close. Anything else you want to do? "

"No, just this. If only Aaarrrgghh could be here too. I'm so anxious to tell him about all of our adventures. Thank-you, Master Jim. Today was a day I'll never forget. But, if I am to be honest, I have to wonder how many days this will last. And this skin... I am still uncomfortable in it." Blinky wondered.

"Welcome to being a teenager." Toby stated.

"Don't worry, Blink. Maybe now I can be the one who helps train you." Jim said. I smiled. I was happy that Jim had a father figure in his life. After a while, I sat down at the edge of the cliff while the others did their own thing and stared at the city, but my mind drifted somewhere else. It wasn't until I heard Claire come up behind me that I finally snapped out of it.

"You okay, Monica? You look like you've seen a ghost. I also noticed you've been rather quiet the whole time we were here." Claire said.

"I'm fine." I lied. Claire didn't looked convinced though and said, "You know, many teachers are usually there for their students, I think it's time that students should be there for their teachers. What's really on your mind?" I sighed knowing that I wouldn't win this argument.

"My father and I used to come up here a lot when I was little. It was our secret get away. Neither Mom nor Jim knew about it. I loved it here. I haven't been here since our dad left us." I explained. Claire gave me sad smile and said, "Well, I hope that this day will help you." I smiled and thanked her. Then, I noticed that she stole a glance at my brother and I grinned.

"Looks like someone has a crush on my brother." I teased. Claire's cheeks turned bright red and she replied, "I tried to give him a hint that I wanted him to ask me to the Spring Fling, but it got awkward after that." I laughed picturing the awkwardness between Claire and Jim.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure that he'll ask you eventually. You probably just got him so speechless that he didn't know what to say after that." I said. Claire smiled and said, "I hope you're right." She went to throw away the bottle she was holding, then she screamed,

"Jim! Monica!" She back away and I noticed a huge monster made entirely of glass bottles rose from the dumpsters.

"Another golem?" Blinky questioned. Then, more questions sprang like, "I thought you two said it was made out of mud." and "Not glass!" To which Jim replied, "Well, there's four of us and only one of him. Flank him!" I summoned the Thriskule and we began to surround the creature, then two more appeared. Dang it, Jim. You jinxed us.

"Jim, Monica, what do we do?" Claire asked. Then, I recalled, "Last time there was a weird stone doll in it."

"An animus totem. We must rip them out of the beasts' hearts and destroy them." Blinky explained. I did not want to put my hand in that thing and Toby voiced my thoughts, "You mean I gotta put my hand in that thing?"

"Stand back, friends. They are no match for the rocky fists of justice." I was about to remind Blinky that he was human now, but it was too late. He punched the glass creature and screamed in pain, "Ow! Sharp things! That was a sobering reminder. We started to fight the creatures and we discovered that we needed to hit them fast and hard. I noticed Toby pick up a really heavy rock and yell, "Welcome to the rock show!" He threw the rock, but it only went a few feet.

"That looked a lot cooler in head." Toby chuckled. Then, I saw Jim and Toby get knocked aside. Toby was fine, but Jim crashed against a tree.

"Jim!" Toby and I yelled. We charged the creature and backed it away from Jim.

Then, Claire managed to destroy one of the creatures. Go Claire! Blinky was having trouble with one of creatures and said, "I'm incredibly short of hands, Master Jim. Master Jim!" I looked for Jim and noticed him running into the woods. Where was he going? We need his help. Before Blinky could get smashed, I ran over and fought the creature away from Blinky. The Thriskule transformed into daggers and threw them at the glass creature.

"Follow me!" Toby shouted. Claire and I darted for the dumpsters with Toby and we managed to trap them inside. Brilliant!

"Excellent stratagem, Tobias." Blinky praised. Then, Toby said, "Totally the plan. Yep."

Claire and I smashed the dumpster into the glass creature that was chasing Blinky and Claire destroyed the totem, but the other one inside the dumpster climbed out. Claire, Toby, and Blinky hid behind me and I tried to defend them, but the creature slapped me across the face, which sent me hurtling against the dumpster. My head was screaming with pain and I distantly heard Claire, Blinky, and Toby calling out for me, then they started screaming for Jim. Where was he?

I tried to get up, but my vision was so blurry that I could barely stand. My face stung from the glass cuts across my cheek and forehead. How was I going to explain this to Mom? I heard Jim shout and the sound of glass shattering. He was back. I got up and stumbled over to where Jim and the others were. The glass creatures were destroyed, but something was wrong with Jim. His face was covered with markings.

"Jim, your face." Toby said. He looked at him and Blinky said, "The golems. They were a distraction."

"What does it mean?" I questioned worried about my brother, but my worries only increased when Blinky replied,

"The sigil of Angor Rot. Master Jim, I'm afraid you have been marked for a fate worse than death."


	23. The Shattered King Part I

While I was walking back to my classroom after my lunch break, I noticed Toby and Jim talking. I decided to be a nosy sister and pop up behind them to see what they were talking about. It wasn't much of a surprise that Toby was trying to get Jim to ask Claire out. I've been nagging at him about it for days.

"Hey, I'm just waiting for my moment." Jim was saying than I put my arm around his shoulder and said, "That's pretty much the same as wussing out. Did you know that there are several bets on who's going to ask who out first for the dance? I'm taking a big risk here, but I'm rooting for you, little bro. Don't let me down."

"Monica, not helping. Also, aren't you supposed to be in the class room about now?" Jim questioned. Ah. Trying to change the subject. Nice try, little bro, but I will not show mercy.

"Don't change the subject, but to answer your question. I've still got a couple minutes." I said.

"They're correct, Master Jim." Blinky said. What is he doing here? He's not supposed to be here. Blinky continued, "I've spent the afternoon in the school library and you apparently are a popular topic of gossip."

"Blinky, what are you doing hanging out at our school?" Jim questioned. I smirked at his flustered state. When Claire and Jim finally get together, I will tell her about these great times. Blinky started to explain, but he was interrupted by Toby,

"Wait. Monica said they're placing bets on who's going to ask who out and now Blinky says that people are gossiping about Jim?" Toby wondered.

"I didn't hear much, but the words 'wussing' and 'out' were frequently invoked." Blinky explained. Jim asked again why he was here at our school and hanging out in the library to which Blinky stated, "I exhausted all of Troll market's resources pertaining to the mysterious mark Angor Rot painted on your forehead. Then, a thought occurred to me, 'what about the library' in Arcadia Oaks High?" We wondered if he found anything, but Blinky said, "Sadly, all I heard was that Master Jim is a wuss when it comes to the fairer sex." I laughed, then I realized the time. I was going to be late if I didn't leave now.

"Got to go! Bye, guys!" I exclaimed while dashing off...

After school was over, I went with Jim, Toby, Claire, and Blinky to Troll market. While Jim went to speak with Vendel, Toby, Claire, Blinky, and I began researching on the possible whereabouts of the Kill stone. Suddenly, Jim ran into the room and informed us that Vendel had given him the location of the Kill stone. I was excited about this because I would finally be able to come along on this quest since school was out for the weekend.

On the way to our mode of transportation, Toby began telling me of the vehicle we would be taking. It was called a Gyre and it could travel at incredible speeds. This was bad news for me because I get motion sickness fairly easy. I saw the Gyre and I felt my stomach drop. I wasn't going to enjoy this. Not at all.

"If Wumpas don't let outsiders into their camp, how do we get the stone?" Jim wondered as we got onto the Gyre.

"Don't worry, Master Jim! I already have a plan! It's rudimentary. If Quagawumps are hostile to outsiders, we'll need an insider. One of you is going to pretend to be the human incarnation of the Shattered King. It's genius!" Blinky explained.

"What? That's insane!" Jim exclaimed. Suddenly, the Gyre started and I screamed as we took off. I grabbed Aaarrrgghh's arm and held onto him as tightly as I could as we traveled. I tried to ignore the queasiness of my stomach and I focused on Blinky who explained the plan,

"You, Tobias, bear a most striking resemblance to their dead king."

"Me?" Toby exclaimed.

"Yes. The Quagawumps are short and stout in nature. It'll be a role of a lifetime. Mostly because if they see past our little charade, the time of our lives will end." Blinky said. Then, the Gyre stopped and I screamed as I fell to the floor. I hated this thing so much. Then, Blinky announced, "Well, we better get a move on."


	24. The Shattered King Part II

We were walking through a swamp-like area looking for the Quagawumps. This place gave me the chills and I wasn't the only one who was on edge about this place because Claire said, "This place is creepy. Where are we?"

"A place renowned for its vast swamps, theme parks, and retirement communities. Florida." Blinky informed us.

"Come on, Your Eminence. You people await." Claire teased. I snickered and Jim playfully punched my arm and whispered, "You two are just making him more nervous."

"I'm just saying- I'm build to be a sidekick, you know? I'm not leading man material. I'm a wing man." Toby stuttered.

"Don't be a wuss." Jim said.

"You're one to talk." I retorted. Jim glared at me and I laughed. He turned back to Toby and said, "Come on." Suddenly, twigs started snapping and the Quagawumps appeared. My eyes widened as they started chanting and surrounding us. Hopefully, the plan will work. It has to work because if it doesn't, well... I'd rather not think about it.

"Mm. Humans! A taste not common." One of the Quagawumps said. We called out for Toby and he came forward. All of the Quagawumps gasped and stared at him. Toby coughed and announced, "It is I, the Shower King!" Blinky coughed, "The Shattered King." Then, Toby corrected himself, "The Shattered King. Reincarnated as a human! Whoo-oo!" He was doing this like he was a ghost. He's going to blow our cover.

"You're not a ghost." Jim stated. The Quagawumps started chanting again and the Wumpa who spoke to us before, spoke again while observing Toby, "Gunmar kill you. You cannot be. Prove you are he. Show us great magics, god king. Hi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yah!" And the other Quagawumps repeated her chant.

Toby whimpered and sighed, "Okay. Alright, now. Stand back." The chanting stopped and Toby continued, "This one's not for the faint of heart. Abara Cadabara, nothing up my sleeve-ara!" He did the most basic magic trick in the book and pretended to make his thumb disappear. Claire face-palmed and I smiled nervously hoping that the Quagawumps would by it.

"He dismembered his hand and then rejoined his flesh and bone!" One of the Wumpa announced amazed.

"His magic is so powerful!" The other Wumpa said. They started chanting again and picked up Toby. Then, they took off with him. They accepted him. Yes!

"Nice work, Tobes! You are leading man material!" Jim called after him. Toby laughed clearly not amused. We reached the place where the Quagawumps resided and one of the Quagawumps announced, "The lost king returns!" All of them started chanting and we looked at the statue of the Shattered King. He looked exactly like Toby.

"No way." I said.

"I don't believe it." Jim stated.

"Neither do I." Claire said.

"Ugh. I know, right? He doesn't even look anything like me." Toby said. He shrieked as the Quagawumps began observing their lost king. They were telling him how his teeth had precious metals and that he was handsome. Toby agreed with their statement and began telling them that's what kept telling the girls at school, but they didn't seem interested. Then, the Quagawumps demanded that he tell them who these girls are and they will hunt them down.

"No, don't do that! That's very kind of you, but not necessary." Toby said. Suddenly, the fires blazed to life and the Quagawumps started singing a beautiful song.

"A song of a Quagawump. No outsider has ever heard such a rare delight." Blinky explained.

"Catchy." Aaarrrgghh stated.

"Awesome sauce!" Toby exclaimed clearly excited.

"This song is so beautiful." Claire said and I nodded in agreement. Then, a Wumpa came up to us and announced, "Come we feast!"

"Oh! What's on the menu?" Jim wondered. The Wumpa said,

"Outsider tried to sneak into camp last night. Tonight, we eat its heart." That's wonderful.


	25. The Shattered King Part III

The Quagawumps served us some food and I watched in disgust as Blinky ate the swamp maggots with delight. Then, I noticed that Claire was looking in Jim's direction, who was sitting right next to me. Jim's eyes widened with fear because he was also looking at, which caused him to freak out and take a bite out of the head of a swamp maggot. As soon as he realized what he had done, he looked like he was about to throw up, then he fainted.

I started laughing and I noticed that Toby was being fed all the meat. Lucky. Shouldn't he be asking about the Kill stone? Looks like I wasn't the only one thinking about that because Blinky came up to Toby, but it didn't look like Toby wanted to ask them. Then, one of the Quagawumps grabbed Blinky and said, "This servant bother you? You want me to kill him?"

"No, no, no, he's fine. For now." Toby said. Really Toby? Then, I focused back on Jim, who was now awake, and helped him over to a boulder to sit on. My attention shifted back to Toby again when another Quagawump proclaimed, "Now is the time of telling. Why returned have you?" Was he going to finally tell them about the Kill stone?

"Uh, yeah. I have returned for one great purpose--ahem-- to tell you of my grand adventures in a far-off mystic land called Arcadia!" Toby exclaimed. The Quagawumps gasped and were very eager to hear what he had to say. Toby continued, "Yeah! Yeah! There, I battled the diabolical Coach Lawrence and his Unclimbable Ropes." Toby went on forever and I only paid attention when he finished another one of his stories of 'epic bravery', "And that day, I was going commando or should I say, command-do." The Quagawumps kept calling for more stories, but Jim walked up to him. I really hope that he was telling Toby to hurry it up.

While they were talking, music started playing and one of the Quagawumps declared, "My king? After journey, what is song you bring?" Toby looked at Jim and I could tell that he was asking Jim for a song suggestion. I stood up getting ready to fight if it was necessary. Then, Toby started clapping his cheeks, stomach, then butt, and said, " _Boom. Boom. Shake the room. Say what_?" The Quagawumps looked at him confused, then Toby yelled again, "I said, ' _Say what?_ '" There was murmuring, then they started repeating what Toby said. It turned out to be a fun dance and song, if you would call it that, that is. Even Aaarrrgghh got into the song and joined the Quagawumps in their dance.

Out of the corner of my, I noticed Claire walk up to Jim and reach her hand out towards him, "Come on! It's catchy."

"Sure, sure! In a minute. I'm just digesting." Jim said. Ugh. Seriously? You missed your chance again!

"Everyone right!" Aaarrrgghh exclaimed. I snorted while Jim wondered what he was talking about. Aaarrrgghh continued, "Wuss! Wuss!"

"He's correct, Master Jim. Wussing out." Blinky said. I laughed and said, "Come on, Claire. I'll dance with you." She smiled and we both started dancing while Jim was talking to Blinky. Aaarrrgghh soon joined Claire and I told Jim that he couldn't go wrong. Wrong about what? I'm not sure. I soon got my answer when Jim made his way over to Claire and I. I took that as my sign to leave and I now realized why Jim was afraid to ask Claire out to the Spring Fling. He could not dance.

Then, to my horror, Claire asked Jim out to the Spring Fling. Dang it! I owe Eli Pepperjack $10. You let me down, Jim!

I slumped in my seat and glared at the two lovebirds and I noticed Jim nervously glance in my direction. He knew why I was upset. He turned back to Claire and he accepted. At least, Claire and Jim will go with each other to the Spring Fling. I noticed they were about to kiss, but the music stopped and I heard footsteps and a giant Quagawump came forward.

"What manner of mischief this be?" He shouted.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Who's this joker?" Toby exclaimed. The Quagawump beside Toby informed him that it was Blungo, the pretend king and she asked if he was going to fight him. Great. This was not going to end well. Blungo demanded to know why we were here and the Quagawump told him that the true king had returned. Toby nervously waved and I didn't blame him. Blungo grabbed Toby and said,

"Shattered King cannot be! King was shatter-ed! King am I!" Blungo exclaimed.

"My favorite musical!" Toby exclaimed. Blungo looked at him confused and one of the Quagawumps told Toby to use his magic. Toby did his finger trick, but Blungo laughed, "Dismemberment amuse Blungo. Now I dismember you!" He started shaking Toby and to our horror Toby exclaimed, "Please don't kill me, Blungo. I'm not the king, okay?" Blungo asked why he was here, then Toby said, "I only made it up to get the stone!" The Quagawump was shocked and Toby was trying to apologize.

"The Kill stone!" Blinky shouted. I looked at Blungo's crown and my eyes widened. There it is!

"Put my friend down!" Jim demanded. I summoned the Thriskule and aimed an arrow at Blungo while Jim shouted, "For the Glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command." Suddenly, Angor Rot appeared and jumped onto Blungo's back and he turned Blungo to stone with his dagger.

Jim got Angor Rot's attention, but Angor Rot took Daylight from Jim. No! We completely forgot about the Mark!

"How did you-" But, Jim was cut off by Angor Rot, "Daylight is now mine to command." I launched towards Angor Rot because he was taking the Kill stone. The Thriskule transformed into daggers and I threw them at Angor Rot. He was able to dodge them and he kept trying to pull the Kill stone out of the crown. Then, a boomerang flew past me and I recognized the material the Boomerang was made of. I turned to Jim and I realized that he had just unlocked some new perks to his armor.

I smirked and turned back to face Angor Rot, but I was met with a fist to my face. I stumbled backwards from the punch and regained my footing. Why did I turn my back on Angor Rot? That was stupid of me to do. He was so going to pay for that though. Jim and I faced Angor Rot while the others searched for the Kill stone.

"Now isn't this fun?" Angor Rot joked. Suddenly, Aaarrrgghh crashed into him, but Angor Rot kicked Aaarrrgghh to the side. We attempted slash at him, but Angor Rot disappeared and reappeared up on the tree. Jim and I climbed up after him. We continued to fight him. I noticed Angor Rot jump up behind Jim and I pushed him out of the way, which caused caused him to fall off the branch, but Aaarrrgghh caught him. Angor Rot pinned me up against the tree and snickered, "This is amusing, but lets end this little charade now. I'm not exactly supposed to do this unless Strickler felt threatened, but at last it would mean that I would be one step closer to finishing the Trollhunter."

"What do you mean?" I wondered.

"Your brother didn't tell you? That explains why you aren't terrified." Angor Rot said. Suddenly, Jim yelled, "Stay away from her!" I used this distraction to push Angor Rot away from me. I was going to ask Jim what Angor Rot meant later. Angor Rot regained his footing and his dagger glowed green.

"Be careful! His blade is poisoned with Creeper's Sun! One cut and you'll be turned to stone!" Blinky called out. That's wonderful. I jumped of the tree branch and met up with Jim and Aaarrrgghh. We jumped down the branches of the tree to try and avoid the dagger. Then, Angor Rot turned a branch that Jim was standing on to stone, which caused him to fall, but again Aaarrrgghh caught him.

"Hey, everyone! I've got the stone!" Toby shouted. No, Toby. Don't shout it. Angor Rot punched Toby out of the way. We ran towards them while Jim shouted, "Don't let him get away!" One of the Quagawumps, who was talking to Toby earlier, charged Angor Rot, but Angor Rot pushed her to the side.

"That's our stone! We need that to save my brother!" Claire shouted. She grabbed Angor Rot, but Angor Rot went into the portal with Claire!

"Claire!" Jim and I shouted. Then, Claire reappeared. We all ran over to Claire and Jim asked, "Claire, are you okay?'

"I-I lost the Kill stone!" Claire exclaimed.

"But, we have you. We'll get it back." Jim promised.

"Indeed, the victory here was survival. Shadowstaff! Very dangerous! Let me take that from you." Blinky stated. He was about to take the staff, but Claire said, "No way. I'm keeping this."

The time came to get back on that dreadful Gyre. I'm never going to like this thing. Claire, Jim, Blinky, and I got on while Toby went to say good-bye to his new friend and Aaarrrgghh started the Gyre. Then, the Gyre started and Toby and Aaarrrgghh got on. Time to go home.


	26. A Day of Receiving

Throughout the night, I couldn't stop thinking about what Angor Rot had said. What was Jim hiding from me? Why did Angor Rot expect me to be terrified of him? I needed to get to sleep. Tomorrow was probably going to be a busy day. We needed to figure out how to get the Kill stone back from Angor Rot and I was going to ask Jim what he meant...

"HAPPY 22ND BIRTHDAY, MO!" Jim shouted at the top of his lungs. I jerked awake which caused me to collide heads with Jim. He and I both groaned and rubbed our heads. After my vision cleared, I shrieked in surprise when I saw that Draal, Toby, Blinky, and Claire were also there holding a birthday cake and they yelled, "Surprise!" Today was my birthday? I guess I've been so busy that I forgot. I stuttered a bit trying to find the right words to this wonderful surprise, "I-I um... Th-thanks, everyone." I only honestly was surprised that they even remembered because even I didn't remember and I also wondered how they were able to pull all of this together without me noticing noticing. Now I'm rambling to myself too much.

"We're hosting a party for you later in Troll market after you have lunch with your mother and Jim." Claire said.

"Claire, that was supposed to be a surprise!" Toby exclaimed. I laughed and Jim announced, "Alright, everyone. Let's gather around and take a group picture before you start telling her what you guys got for her birthday too." We gathered around to take a photo and afterwards, I commented, "I can't believe you guys did all of this. When did you guys have the time to do this?"

"We've been working on it the past few days. Whenever you had to work at the school, we spoke on what to do. We did have a scare earlier this morning when Jim said that the cake kept tilting because he thought he put too much filling for the layers of the cake, but it all worked out." Claire explained. After a while, I heard mom's car pull up in the drive way and Claire, Toby, Draal, and Blinky left. Before Mom entered the house, I pulled Jim aside.

"Jim, yesterday while Angor Rot and I were fighting. He was ordered to do this when Strickler felt threatened, but he was going to do it to me anyway. He said that you knew what that meant. Jim, what aren't you telling me? " I questioned. Jim looked at me with a guilty expression on his face and admitted,

"When Strickler dropped Mom off not too long ago, he told me that he had made an enchantment that whatever harm that's done to him would be done to Mom. He also told me that he had ordered Angor Rot to assassinate you if he ever felt threatened. I'm sorry I didn't tell you this sooner. I didn't want you to be afraid and for you to have to look over your shoulder every day." My jaw dropped at what I was hearing. Angor Rot was going to kill me. This is why Jim wasn't going after Strickler. He's been trying to protect Mom and I the whole time.

I quickly embraced Jim, which caused him to jump, and I whispered, "It's okay, Jim. If something like this ever happens again, please promise that you'll tell me. Your my little brother, Jim. You don't have to face these things alone."

"I promise." Jim said. We heard the door open and Mom, Jim, and I went to lunch. Lunch was a blast. We went to our favorite restaurant and we goofed off. It felt so good just to sit together as a family. After lunch, Mom had to head back to work and Jim and I went to Troll market for the 'surprise' birthday party. Jim figured that they were still going to try and surprise me, so he had me come in blindfolded. When Jim finally to Troll market, he said,

"That's weird. There's barely anyone here. I could've sworn Toby said that they were having the party in the main square." Nice try, Jim, but you're not going to fool me.

"Very funny, Jim. Wouldn't Toby have called to tell you that they had cancelled the party?" I asked. Suddenly, extremely loud music started playing and everyone yelled, "SURPRISE!" This nearly gave me a heart attack. Well played Toby Domzalski. Well played. After several people wished me happy birthday, we went on to the dance party that Toby and Claire had planned.

One of the first songs they had up was the chicken dance. That is one of my favorite songs for the start of a dance and I was laughing because it was funny seeing Claire and Toby attempting to teach everyone.

After a while, a couple of trolls got up and started playing some traditional troll music and that was cool to here and I noticed people grabbing a partner and heading to the dance floor. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Draal.

"May I have the honor of dancing with you?" Draal questioned. I smiled and answered, "You may." Draal took my hand and led me to the dance floor. Over the past few weeks, I can confidently say that Draal and I have become fairly good friends. He's been teaching me a lot about how to wield the Thriskule and I've grown to trust him. Once the dance ended, I pecked Draal on the cheek and I said,

"Thank-you for everything you have done for my family and I." I whispered and Draal gave me a smile.

After a while, the party was over and Jim and I went home. Jim entered the house and I was about follow him inside, but something caught my eye. There was a package on the porch. I picked it up and I noticed that it was addressed to me from... My father? I froze there for a couple seconds not quite sure what to do.

"Monica?" Jim called.

"Coming!" I called back. I quickly went inside the house, ran up to my room, and shoved the package under my bed.

 **A/N: Sorry if this chapter seemed a little cheesy. The package will be introduced again fairly soon. Again, sorry for the lack of updates!**


	27. Airheads Part I

Monday. The day students like the least because that means going back to school. Believe me, I get it. If someone told me back in my freshman year that I would become Arcadia Oaks English teacher, I would've laughed at them. How the tides have turned. I so badly wish that I could be in Troll market now with the others, but sadly today was... a staff meeting. Basically, what the staff meeting was about was the upcoming touch-a-truck-athon event for the spring fling, which teacher would be in charge of it, and the soccer game that would take place at 4 pm. Thankfully, I wasn't put in charge of it. Senor Uhl didn't seem to mind it too much because he would've been there anyways due to his precious truck, Susanna, being the truck that everyone would be keeping their hand on.

Finally, the staff meeting was over and I went to head over to my class, then I saw Jim, Toby, and Claire. I went over to them and I noticed that Jim was holding a box. Once I reached them, I asked, "What's in the box?" This caused Jim to nearly drop the box. Once he regained balance, he glared at me and said, "It doesn't matter. We're not going to open it."

"Yeah, Mo, it doesn't matter. But, aren't you curious though? There could be, like, a tiny creature in there that can't breathe, Jimbo! Or an itty bitty troll king whose kingdom needs saving!" Toby blurted. Then, Toby gasped when he saw the school's mascot, "Uh. Or my soulmate." I knew who was in there, but I wanted Toby to find out for himself. Jim slammed the locker and said,

"Guys, it doesn't matter because, at lunch, I'm taking it straight to the post office. Easy win, for once."

"Actually, Jim-" I started to say, but I was interrupted by Steve, "What? You think you're going to win today, Lame Junior. I mean, Jim." He stuttered, when he realized that I was standing right behind Jim, then he continued, "The Touch-a Truck-athon is mine. It's the ultimate test of endurance and no one can touch like me. Am I right, Claire?" Claire took her hand away and said, "Ugh. In your dreams."

"Aw. Poor, Steve. I think he's becoming unhinged." Toby commented. I snorted at this and fist bumped Toby saying, "Nice one."

"Oh man. The truck-athon's today. Is that what you were trying to tell me earlier?" Jim asked turning to me. I nodded and he continued, "That's gonna take all day!"

"Then, let Claire, Toby, and I deliver the package. How hard could it be?" I wondered.

"Bagdwella wanted me to deliver it." Jim stated.

"Focus, Jim. We're trying to win Spring King, remember? We can be cool?" Toby reminded him.

"You mean, you want to be cool." Jim said.

"Semantics. You already won the first challenge. If you ace this, you'll be a lock king, then I'll be a duke. Win this and you won't have to worry about anymore of these stupid things. It's a win-win." Toby pointed out.

"You said we needed to step up." Claire said backing Toby up. When did he say that? Must've been this morning while I was at the staff meeting.

"Guys, troll mail... Not what I meant." Jim said. Claire tried reasoning with him that this was our chance to prove to him that we could step up. He sighed, opened his locker, took out the box, handed it to Toby while saying, "Just remember, don't open the box." Then, Toby grabbed the box and proclaimed, "Don't worry, Dude. Post-Masters Toby and Monica along with their assistant, Claire, will handle this with Claire." Jim handed the address, then Toby dropped the box while he was grabbing the address. Claire and Toby left Jim, but before I did, I patted Jim on the back and said, "Good luck, Jim."

"Thanks, Monica. Please keep an eye on Claire and Toby. I do trust them, but I can tell that they are getting on each other's nerves. Hopefully, they will be able to work it out." Jim said.

"Will do. See you later!" I exclaimed as I ran to class.


	28. Airheads Part II

During third period, I received a text from Claire that they were going to take the box to the post office after fourth period. That won't take any time at all and I'll be back for class. Hopefully, nothing will go wrong and I can make it back to class on time otherwise I could possibly be fired if I'm late to class because teachers aren't supposed to be late.

While I was teaching my class, I noticed Toby was outside the window. Wait a minute. Toby is outside my window?! I was doing my best to maintain my composure, so that the other students wouldn't know and I could hear him screaming/whispering in terror for me to help him. I noticed that it was about five minutes till the bell rang, so I quickly rapped things up and dismissed the class a couple minutes early. I ran outside and found that Claire had already helped him down by the flag pole. I ran up to them and asked, "What happened?"

"It was an accident, I swear! Claire and I couldn't find the address and I panicked and looked everywhere around us. Then, I accidentally, in my panicked rush to find the address, opened the box and it sent out this whoosh sound. Now, I'm floating around because of the whoosh. Please, Monica. Is there anything you can do?" Toby explained.

"There isn't anything that I can do, but maybe Blinky can help us out." I suggested, then I groaned, "He's at our house though. We're going to have to do this quickly because we only have 45 minutes before I have to get back to my job and you have to get back to class."

"Well, then, let's go! No, no, no, no, no! Grab me, Monica!" Toby yelled. I quickly grabbed him and pulled him back down. Suddenly, while I was backing down the steps, I accidentally tripped and let go of Toby. He screamed for help and Claire and I followed him out of the school and into the streets. While we were running, I noticed that we were passing the cafe and I saw my mom and Strickler out on a date. I quickly ducked by the cars and did my best to not be noticed by my mother. Luckily, they didn't notice us and we followed Toby down the streets and he was yelling, mainly at Claire because she was ahead of me due to my detour of not wanting to be noticed by my mom and Strickler, "Uh! Hey, grab me! Grab me! Don't lose me like you lost the stone!"

"I'm trying and shut up!" Claire yelled. She jumped to grab Toby's hands, but missed, which caused Toby to say, "Aw, come on, Claire! No, no, no, no! Whoa! Wait a sec! Hey, I think-- I think it's wearing off! Nice! It just wore off." He landed back on the ground, but, when he tried to take step, he face planted on the ground. He groaned, "What's happening to me?"

"Toby, what's wrong?" Claire questioned.

"Can't move!" Toby sobbed. Claire and I each grabbed one of Toby's arms and we tried to help him up, but we couldn't. He weighed a ton. Then, it clicked. I said, "The whoosh! It's making you switch between super light and super heavy without warning!"

"That seems accurate." Toby concurred. Claire tapped my shoulder and pointed behind us, "We can use that wagon to pull him." I nodded and we were somehow able to lift Toby onto the wagon. We struggled to pull the wagon and Claire commented, "Toby, no offense, but you got a real weight problem."

"Not funny. "Toby growled. Then, we heard a cop's sirens. This is great. More problems to deal with, but I can't blame the cops for wanting to see what two girls were doing pulling a guy around in a wagon.

"Hey, cool kids, what you doing there? Skipping school?" The cop questioned.

"Hello, officer! My name is Monica Lake. I'm the new English teacher at Arcadia Oaks. I'm just assisting my students here to... the hospital! You see, this fellow here has rare condition." Suddenly, I was interrupted by Toby, "I have no bones."

"What? Seriously?" The cop wondered.

"Extremely rare. Someone stole his wheelchair. On normal circumstances, I would've just driven my car, but today I took my bike since I wanted some exercise. This young girl ran up to me after my class period and told me of her situation, so I tried doing the best I could." I explained.

"Uh. No bones. Poor kid. I can't let you go like this. Let me call a squad car." The cop said. Then, I said, "That's very kind of you, sir, but, since we've been out here, I've noticed how much he loves the fresh air. This is actually doing him some good and it's the only thing helping him not freak out over the loss of his wheel chair."

"Well... I suppose I can let you go since the fresh air is the only reason he isn't freaking out right now and we don't want to distress him. Alright. You're free to leave." The cop said. I thanked him and when I turned around, Toby and Claire were gone! Where did they go? I ran off and found Claire a block away.

"Claire, where's Toby?" I called out to her. She slowed down and I caught up to her. She answered, "I don't know. He floated off when the officer let us go. I'll try calling him." She got out her phone and dialed his number.

" _Claire, it's you!"_ Toby shouted in glee.

"Toby, you drifted away! Where the heck are you?" Claire questioned.

" _I'm right above the--"_ Suddenly, the phone beeped and Claire and I looked at each other in confusion. He must've dropped his phone. Now what? Then, we spotted him at Claire's house. Claire grabbed a kite and floated it towards Toby and she shouted, "Grab it already!" Toby clutched onto the kite and said, "You found me! What the heck? Reel me in, reel me in!"

"Say it." Claire demanded and I knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Say what?" Toby asked in confusion.

"I'm not bring you down until you admit you've been a butt to me all day. You're jealous of me being close to Jim!" Claire answered. Then, Toby said, "Claire! I'm sorry, okay? Come on!" That apparently didn't cut it because Claire stated, "Admit it! You've been a total butt!"

"Okay, you're right. I am a butt. It's just-- for so long, it was the Jim and Toby show, you know? I wasn't really jealous when Monica came back because she's Jim's sister and honestly, Monica, you've always treated me like I was family, so I never felt threatened. But, when you joined the group, you were this cool, smart girl, who's great at everything and is really pretty, and now you have this super rad staff, and what do I have? I've got weight problems." Toby admitted.

"Toby, you and Jim are the dynamic duo. I can never change that." Claire said.

"Hoo! I was so afraid you were going to be mad at me, and we were never going to be friends again, and it was just all these bad things I didn't want to talk about." Toby explained while Claire and I suddenly started floating. Great.

"Toby, Monica, I think the curse is spreading." Claire stated.

"Really? I hadn't noticed." I said sarcastically.

"Oh no! What do we do? What do we do?" Toby panicked.

"Let's just get to my house. Blinky will know what to do." I said. Once we got there, I opened the door and shouted, "Blinky, you've got to help us!" I tried grabbing hold of an object, but I couldn't grab onto anything. Blinky entered the room and asked, "What in blue blazes?"

"Toby opened Bagdwella's box. Now we're floating and sinking. And it's getting worse! What's happening?" Claire questioned.

"Whoa! Oh dear." Blinky said as more furniture started floating upwards. Then, he too started floating. He grabbed the box and stated, "A curse box! Why would you be in possession of such a dangerous gift?"

"We were trying to help Jim, but, please, can you turn it off? Oh. A Nougat Nummy!" Toby exclaimed.

"A curse cannot be broken. It can only be passed on, or it will grow stronger by the minute! Vendel, Vendel-- Vendel can contain the curse. We must get to Vendel. But how? We'll never get to Troll market." Blinky stated. Suddenly, the house started to shake and it began to float and I said, "Oh no! The curse is spreading to the house!"

"We must get to Vendel!" Blinky proclaimed.

"What foolishness is this?" Draal questioned. Then, he started to floated around as well. We needed to contain this and fast. I don't have much time before I have to get back to class! Toby shouted, "Claire, use your shadow staff! You can get us to Vendel!" He tossed her the staff, but Claire said, "But, I can't! I can only open a portal that's big enough for a baby mouse or an olive, remember?"

"You must think of Vendel. Clear your mind. Think nothing but him." Blinky told her. Wow. So helpful, Blinky. Clear her head while all of this crazy stuff is happening. She tried to do it, but nothing happened. Then, Toby said, "Okay, I hate to do this. Um... Hey, Claire! Don't let us down, like you did with the Kill stone, remember? You lost it!" Claire was confused, but Toby continued, "You know, I don't think you're ready to be a Trollhunter. I really don't. You see that shadow staff? You're not worthy to wield it's powers. Am I right, Blinky?"

"Um... indeed! Yes!" Blinky played along.

"I saved you! I thought we were friends now." Claire protested.

"Friends don't let friends down, like you did with the Kill stone!" Toby yelled.

"Why are you being such a butt again?" Claire wondered and I noticed that the Shadow staff was charging up while Toby said, "Oh, are you angry, Claire? Are you mad? Are you mad enough?" Then, Claire shouted, "Yeah. I'm angry!"

"Then look at the staff and think of Vendel and make a portal!" Toby ordered. Claire realized what Toby was doing and said, "Thank-you!" She made a portal and she was able to go half way through. We all grabbed onto her as she told Vendel to pull us through. Vendel did pull us through and Claire celebrated that she was able to make a portal while Vendel asked Blinky what he did now.

"Don't look down at me. It is Tobias who is curse." Blinky pointed out.

"I'll apologize a million times later, but can you stop this?" Toby wondered.

"Of course, but I need a vessel to trap the curse." Vendel said.

"Quick! Grab something! Anything!" Claire shouted.

"Not anything! I know just the thing." Toby stated. In the end, we put the curse into the war hammer that Toby had his eyes set on earlier and now that the curse was inside of, he could actually lift it. I realized that we only had ten minutes to get back to school. Toby, Claire, and I ran back to school as fast as we could and we made it just in time.

After school, Claire and Toby went to Troll market to test out their new weapons, but I stayed behind because, honestly, I had enough craziness for one day.


	29. Where is My Mind?

The next day, I realized that I still hadn't paid Eli for winning the bet. In fact, I'm pretty sure that no one at school besides Toby knows that Claire asked Jim out to the Spring Fling first. Might as well be the one to deliver the news because Mary and Darcy have been driving me nuts about it. After second period was over and Jim, Claire, and Toby had left, I went up to Eli Pepperjack's desk and gave him $10, which was the amount we agreed too. His face lit up with excitement and exclaimed, "Haha! Thank-you, Claire! I knew you wouldn't let me down." This caused Mary and Darcy to come over and see what all the excitement was about.

"What are you guys talking about?" Mary wondered. Eli was about to answer, but I intervened, "Nothing besides the fact that Claire and Jim are going to the dance together. I'm just paying Eli because he won the bet that was placed a couple weeks ago."

"Wait? Jim asked C-Bomb to the dance and she didn't tell us!" Darcy exclaimed. Then, Mary asked, "Wait? You bet that your brother and Claire wouldn't go to the dance together?"

"Not exactly. For that piece of information, you are going to have to ask Claire. Even though, I witnessed the whole thing. I'm just disappointed in Jim." I stated and shared a smirk with Eli. Mary, Darcy, and Eli left and I knew that Claire would have her hands full for a while with the questions that Mary and Darcy are going to ask. Then, I felt something crawl in my ear and I to get it out, but then the crawling feeling vanished and I felt my vision go blurry for second. Once everything cleared up, I saw a shadow move out the classroom door.

"Hello?" I called out. There was no answer. I exited the classroom and followed the shadow. When I went out of the classroom, there was no one in sight. No students chatting in the hallways and when I looked inside other classrooms there were no teachers either. Then, I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. I summoned the Thriskule and aimed an arrow to the incoming intruder. But, what I saw next made me freeze in my tracks and drop my bow. It was my father. How was he here? I started backing up, but I tripped and put myself up against a wall.

"Daddy?" I cried. He held out his arms and said in a deep voice that made my skin crawl, "Monica, my little girl. You've grown so much since the last time I saw you." He held out his hand to help me up and I'm not sure why, but I took it. He left me up and he smiled at me.

"Is it really you, Dad?" I cried. He wiped away my tears and replied, "Yes, my dear girl. I'm here." I quickly embraced him and I felt like I was a little girl again waiting for her father to come home. Except, now he is. Through my tears, I asked, "Why did you go with that other woman, Dad? Why did you leave us? Why did you leave me? You promised that no one would ever be able to replace us!"

"Because you, your mother, and Jim mean _nothing_ to me now." He answered. Suddenly, his whole demeanor changed and he shoved me back to the ground and yelled, "You are worthless and you were very much easy to replace!" I got up, ran into another classroom, locked the door, and sat down trying to calm myself. Then, I saw Jim. I ran over to embrace him, but when he turned. I stopped. He was wounded. He took a step towards me, but he fell. Before he fell to the ground, I caught him.

"Jim?" I cried. He opened his blue eyes and they stared at me in disappointment. He replied, "Why did you leave me, Mo? I needed you, but you left me to fight off those monsters alone." I cried, "No. This can't be happening. This isn't happening. Please, Jim. I'm so sorry."

"Good-bye, Mo." Jim said, then his body went limp. I cradled him in my arms and sobbed. I heard the door open and I turned to see my father once again. When he saw Jim's body and laughed, "See how pathetic you are? You couldn't even protect your own little brother." He's right. I really am worthless. Then, I heard someone calling out my name and I felt someone slap me across the face.

Everything vanished and I saw Toby and Claire looking at me in concern. It was all a dream. I shook my head and asked, "What happened? Where's Jim?"

"There's no time. Stick these up your nose. We have to help Jim!" Toby exclaimed. We ran out of the classroom looking for Jim. Soon, we saw him in the Jim and Toby exclaimed, "There! There's Jim!" We ran up to the doors, but Angor Rot closed them. No, he can't kill Jim! I tried desperately to open the doors, but to no avail. Finally, we were able to open the doors and saw Jim lying on the floor unconscious, but alive.

"Jim! You're alive!" We all cried out. Toby, Claire, and I gave Jim a bone-crushing hug and Toby said, "We really thought we lost you." When we exited the Jim, I noticed that everything seemed to be returning to normal. I departed from Jim because I had to make sure that the other students were alright once Jim and Toby filled me in on what had happened. Thank God that everything was just a dream and I was so thankful that Jim was alright. Luckily, everyone else was alright to and Mom came after school and demanded to know what had happened. So, I told what the police were telling everyone. That there was a chemical leak in the lab, but everyone was alright and unharmed. I noticed Blinky go up to Jim, Claire, and Toby and he seemed out of breathe. Did he run all the way here?

Once everything was cleared up and we were free to leave, I went up to Claire, Toby, Jim, and Blinky and Jim informed me of how he escaped from Angor Rot. Apparently, Angor Rot had struck a deal with Jim. If he gave him the ring that Strickler was carrying, which apparently controlled Angor Rot, he would severe the bond between Strickler and our mother and he promised that he would not harm me.

When we got home later that night, I went up to my room and thought about everything that had happened today. I got down on the floor and searched for the present that my father had given me for my birthday and when I found it... I opened it.


	30. Party Monster Part I

When I opened the package I got from my father, I found... a plane ticket inside and a letter from my father. I looked at the plane ticket and it was a ticket to Vermont! Did my father want me to visit him? Did he actually want to see me? I looked at the letter and I was about to open it to see if my theory was correct, but I heard Jim calling for me and I quickly shoved the letter and the box under my bed and turned around just as Jim opened the door.

"Monica, I'm going with Toby to Claire's house to come up with a way to get the ring off of Strickler than head to Troll market. Do you want to come along?" I thought about the letter under my bed. I wanted to know what it read, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn't want to read it. Jim really needed me right now. I couldn't afford any distractions. Plus, after what's happened over the past couple days, thinking about visiting my father is the last thing I need right now.

"Sure." I answered. As we headed out the door, I couldn't help but think if I made the right decision...

Soon enough, Jim, Toby, and I were at Claire's house. When we got there, Claire said that she could help figure out a plan to get the ring off Strickler, but she wouldn't be able to come to Troll market. Turns out her parents were gone for the weekend, which means that we had the whole house to ourselves. We went up to Claire's room and immediately began planning on what to do to get Angor Rot's ring back.

"Okay. We wait until he's asleep." Jim said.

"I use my shadow staff to get us in." Claire suggested.

"And I ever so gently remove the ring from his finger." Jim said.

"Hold up there, Mr. Storyteller. Do changelings even sleep?" Toby questioned. Good point. We repeated the plan and made a couple changes. I was going to spike his coffee with extra strength cold medicine when I come and ask a couple questions about class, Claire uses the shadow staff, Toby would bring his war hammer in case it didn't knock him out, but then I said,

"Wait. What if he's not alone? His office was guarded last time." Then, we had to recreate the whole thing. Spike the coffee, shadow staff, Toby uses his war hammer to take out his goons, then Jim ever so gently removes the ring.

"But, what if it doesn't come off?" Toby wondered.

"Why would it not come off?" Jim questioned.

"I don't know. Maybe if it's glued on or he added a few pounds." Toby suggested.

"Why would it be glued on, you dingus?" Claire asked.

"You said that we had to be ready for every precaution!" Toby exclaimed.

"He's waking up!" Claire yelled.

"Oh. How is he waking up? This isn't even really happening." Jim stated. Then, we started blurting suggestions like chopping off his hand, Jim was hesitant, but before he did, I reminded him that chopping off his hand would also chop off our mother's hand as well. Jim forgot about that. Then, Toby also reminded Jim that if they failed, Strickler would feel threatened and send Angor Rot to kill me. It's a good thing that we weren't actually doing this. We were not ready for this at all.

"We're not ready for this." Jim stated.

"But, Angor Rot said if you don't get the ring, he's coming back for you." Claire reminded him.

"Hey. We'll figure this out, Jimbo! It's not like we don't have a secret Troll market right under our feet filled with crazy magic." Toby encouraged him. We went downstairs to leave, but before we left, Jim asked again,

"You sure you don't wanna come?"

"Sorry. Parents are on a weekend trip, so Mary and Darcy are coming over for girls' night. Just keeping up appearances. You know what I mean." Claire explained.

"Ooh, girls? I love a good pillow fight." Toby said. Jim shoved Toby and stated, "Just ignore that. We'll let you know if we find anything, okay?" Claire said see ya and closed the door.


	31. Party Monster Part II

Jim, Toby, and I went to Troll market to see if Rot and Gut had anything that could be used to take something without anyone noticing. I wasn't sure if they would be much help since we didn't know exactly what we were looking for, but it's worth a try. We arrived at their shop and knocked on the large doors and Jim exclaimed, "Excuse me! Mr. Rot and Gut? Do you guys have a ring remover spell or anything" A small opening appeared and Rot asked,

"You want a ring remover? Hmm. Let's see. Ring, ring... Oh! Here it is!" Suddenly, another opening appeared and Gut exclaimed, "That's Ringworm remover, ya glork."

"What about a magical super magnet?" Toby wondered.

"Oh! Definitely got one of those! Doesn't work great. Just grabs snails." Gut informed us.

"I'm afraid our colleagues here won't be of much use if you do not know what you're looking for." Blinky said as he walked up behind us. As if to prove his point, Rot said, "We got a Footswapper! You can take his feet." I shook my head and Blinky continued, "Magical solutions are a delicate matter. You must be precise. Find the exact tool for the job at hand." Suddenly, Gut screamed because Rot used the Footswapper. I laughed, then turned to Blinky and asked, "So, where do we find the right tool?"

"I know just the place! Are you ready young wards, to embark with me on the greatest adventure?" Blinky questioned.

"Oh yeah! Where? Where?" Toby inquired. Blinky led the way to the place we were going to go and I noticed the direction we were heading. I couldn't help but get excited about where we were heading because I had been wanting to look through the place for ages on my spare time. We reached our destination and Blinky exclaimed, "The adventure of reading! Hours upon hours of research awaits you! Avante!"

"Well, we sure walked into that one." Toby commented.

"Yes! I've been dying to look at through this library and this is the perfect opportunity!" I exclaimed.

"I'm glad that at least one of you is excited to be here," Blinky said, "My brother spent centuries curating our kind's most exotic collection of scrolls, tomes, and texts. If the answer is anywhere, it's here." I clapped my hands giddy with excitement. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. It's been so long since I've had time to read. I ran to the nearest bookshelf and searched the titles of the book. So much history of the Trolls right here in this very room.

"I didn't know you had a brother." Toby said.

"Had a brother. Dictatious Maximus Galadrigal. These books are all that I have left of him. If he were here to see me now..." Blinky said. I stopped searching and I was about to say something, but Blinky said, "Uh. Aaarrrgghh?" Aaarrrgghh looked a little nervous and said, "Just leaving. Had things I was doing. Uh. Got to go. Just leaving."

"Hey, wing man! What's-" Toby was interrupted by Aaarrrgghh, "Fine! Bye." He walked out of the room. That was weird.

"Strange. I don't think I've ever seen him in my library." Blinky commented.

"Let alone reading." Jim said.

"You guys notice Aaarrrgghh's been acting kind of weird lately?" Toby wondered. I guess that he has been acting a little strange. I wonder why? I turned to the others and said, "I guess he has been acting a little weird. I just hand't really noticed until now. Maybe we should see what's bothering him."

Then, Blinky said, "Aaarrrgghh is a complex and yet endearing troll, Tobias and Monica. Sometimes its just best to let him be. Let's get reading!" He picked up a book and started reading with excitement. Soon, I chose a book that was looked like an interesting read. I picked it up and began the adventure that lied within the pages.


	32. Party Monster Part III

I already was on on book 35. Oh. This was so enjoyable. I love reading, but I had to admit that I was getting rather tired. Sadly, we still haven't found the answer. The book I was reading is a geography of trolls. All the places that they have been, the history, and culture of those places. Suddenly, Jim slammed his book and yelled, "Book 26. Nothing. This last one was just a list of toe fungus. Fungi. Fungi! Whatever! I don't care!"

"I'm still on book three. Can't exactly read trollish, so just been kinda looking at the pictures." Toby groaned.

"This is taking forever. What about you, Mo?" Jim questioned.

"On book 35, thanks to Claire and Not Enrique tutoring me, I can kind of understand trollish. Sadly, nothing. Just maps, culture, and history of where the trolls have been over the past thousand years. Intriguing read, but not helpful to our situation." I explained placing the book back on the shelf, then I turned to Blinky, "Any luck, Blink?"

Blinky yawned and woke up. He looks like he has gotten barely any rest the past few days. He yawned, "Excuse me. My zeal for the library sciences seems to be waning. Since I only have two eyes, reading makes them tired very, very fast."

"Dude, you awake? You look terrible." Toby stated.

"I can't conceive why. I've met every one of my daily human needs, three meals a day, eight glasses of water, eight minutes of sleep." Blinky said. He yawned and as he was about to fall back asleep, Jim said, "Oh, Blinky, it's eight hours of sleep! Not..." Sad;y, Blinky fell back asleep. How long has he been running on eight minutes of sleep per day? Poor guy. If I did that, I don't think I would be able to handle being a teacher. I wouldn't have the patience nor the mind capacity.

"And... then there were three. I don't know how many more books I can read before my brain melts. I think this book's about reading books." Toby complained. At this point, I would love to be with Claire and her friends. Just talking about life and being normal for once. I miss that so much. I wonder how my old friends, Elizabeth and Patrick are doing... OH MY GOSH! ELIZABETH AND PATRICK! They are so going to kill me. I've barely hung out with them in the past two months since I've been back!

"Oh my gosh! Uh, Jim! I'll be right back. I have to make a quick phone call. I'll explain later." I said. I took off before Jim or Toby could ask any questions and got out my phone. I dialed Elizabeth's number. I paced back and forth extremely nervous about what I was going to say to her. She answered, "Mo, it's so good to hear from you!"

"Lizzy, I am so incredibly sorry for barely hanging out with you and Patrick! I know that this is the lamest of excuses, but I've just been so busy with work and Jim-" I was interrupted by Elizabeth, "No worries, Mo. I understand. I ran into your mom a couple days ago and she says that you have been helping Jim with some problems he's been having to deal with."

"That's... one way of putting it. Do you want to hang out soon? Tomorrow, you, Patrick, and I could have lunch at the old cafe? My treat. I'll make sure to call him after this." I said.

"Sure! That'll be great! No need to call Patrick. He's actually right here with me. See you tomorrow!" Elizabeth said.

"Bye, guys!" I exclaimed and hung up. I went back into the library to see Jim holding up a bottle and saying, "See! No what to look for and you can find the exact tool for the job. Oh. Hi, Mo! We just got this Elixlore, which is supposed to help enhance our reading. Who were you talking to?"

"Elizabeth and Patrick. I've been so busy with work and helping you guys that I've barely hung out with them in the past two months since I've been back. Tomorrow we've made plans to hang out during my lunch break." I said.

"Cool. Hopefully, we'll have the answer we're looking for by then with this." Jim said.

"Oh! Give me some of that yum yum juice." Toby said. He chugged down the bottle, then handed it back to Jim. While Jim was opening the bottle, he said, "After a swig of this, we'll get through these books in no time." Toby began listing off some of the ingredients that he tasted such as mint and mold. When Jim opened the bottle, there wasn't much in there and he exclaimed, "Toby, it says you're only supposed to drink a drop of it. You drank half the bottle!"

"Hey, Jim. My insides are gurgling real weird." Toby said. I wonder why.

"But, do you feel hungry for knowledge?" Jim questioned.

"Actually, I feel like I'm gonna..." Toby stumbled and fell. Suddenly, letters from the books started flying. Jim opened Toby's mouth and the letters flew in. Toby swallowed them and said, "Jim, am I wrong or did words just fly into my mouth?" We questioned how he felt and Toby continued, "I feel as good as Grimbald the Grave must have felt at the Quibble of Quandary after besting a vicious Sloorbeast!" He burped then said, "Wait. What did I just say?"

I picked up the book and read through it, then exclaimed, "Holy moly! You just... devoured the entire book!"

"Oh man, Tobes! You're like a-- you're like a troll genius! Quick. Eat another one!" Jim proclaimed. Toby began eating book after book and spewed the information from the book. Um... I'm not sure that we should continue doing this. Luckily, I wasn't the only one thinking this and Jim said, "I think that you should probably stop devouring all these books, Tobes."

"Are you kidding? This is great! I will never stop gaining knowledge!" Toby shouted.

Jim's phone starting ringing and Jim exclaimed, "Claire! I'm so glad you called. You gotta come to Troll market."

"No time, Jim. You need to come here. Not Enrique's out of control!" Claire explained over the phone.

"Out of control? Toby is gorging on magic troll words and turning into some kind of knowledge god! Toby stop!" Jim yelled. I ran over to Toby and tried pinning his hands to the ground, so that he would stop eating the words, but it didn't really do much. Jim told Claire that she could figure it out and hung up the phone. He ran over to Toby and I and he said, "Okay. Maybe we should take a break, Tobes. You gotta be full by now, right?"

"No, James. I am becoming a living archive. A codex of all troll history and arcana! I am like Voltar the Voracious who was born with two minds! For all good that did two him. Stepped on by a Thrall. Don't you see, James? I already have the solution to our problem! To do something impossible, you must change what is possible. The oldest known troll was 5,352 years old named Chokeenamaga!" Jim questioned what we had to do to get the ring off of Strickler and Toby answered, "The Kairosect will grant us all we need to get to the Inferna Copula."

He began to ramble, but Jim patted him on the cheek and told him to focus and asked where we would get this. Toby replied, "You must return to Gatto's Keep."

"Gatto? Oh great! Aren't you already on his crap list?" Jim questioned. Toby started chanting and several letters starting swirling around and they would've gotten into his mouth, Jim stepped in front of Toby and said, "Alright, Tobes. We got what we're looking for, so let's chill, okay? We'll get some fresh air. Splash of water." But, Toby wasn't listening. He said that he must know all. This wasn't good. He began spewing more information and mentioned how the parallels of the universe became so clear.

Then, Toby said, "The secret to life-" He burped and a word flew out of his mouth. Toby shoved the word back in and attempted to say what the secret to life is again, but his stomach startled gurgling and he began to throw up. Gross. Toby threw up again and again and even flew across the room. Blinky woke up, sniffed, and said, "Ah! Elix-Lore!"

"Tobes, Tobes!" Jim shouted and ran next to him.

"What is two plus two?" Blinky questioned. Toby started counting his fingers and shouted, "Awesome sauce!"

"Phew. Back to normal." Jim and I sighed with relief.

"But, my library on the other hand..." Blinky said. Toby apologized and said that he would clean it up, but Blinky said, "No, no, it's all recoverable. Rot-Gut's probably has a little something to put it right."

"No!" Toby shouted.

As we were walking out of Troll market, I began to think back on what Toby said for what the meaning of life is and I chuckled. He obviously doesn't read much because he would already have known the answer. The secret to life is 42. Gotta thank Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for that.


	33. It’s About Time Part I

All of us were waiting anxiously for Jim to give the signal, so that we could help him at Gatto's Keep. While the guards were taking Jim to Gatto, we sneaked in and waited near the entrance careful to avoid the eyesight of the guards. I couldn't quite hear everything that they were saying, but Jim was going to get Gatto to answer a riddle and that was going to be the signal for us to get the Kairosect. Soon enough, we were able to hear Jim shout, "And it's nacho day either! Now! I said, Now!" Claire used her shadow staff and transported all of us up there. Blinky threw him the amulet and Jim got his armor on.

"A trick?" Gatto bellowed. Toby used his hammer to open up Gatto's mouth and we climbed in and we all dove in. I tried my best to avoid the thought that I was climbing into someone's mouth. Once we were inside the treasury, we got to work. Come on. Where was it? Any second now, the guards will be in here.

"I miss the simpler days when we were hunting gnomes." Toby commented. I heard rumbling. Too late. The guards tumbled in and I willed my bow to transform into daggers. I stood beside Jim ready to defend him. One of the guards took on Jim and I took on the other one. Jim was quickly knocked to one side of the room and I was knocked next too him.

"Aha! The Kairosect! Good work, my chum. Tobias, let's evacuate. Uh. Poor choice of words." Blinky said. I nearly puked at the thought of what was going to happen next. So much for not thinking about being in someone's stomach.

"Hey! Over hear! That's right, boys. Your big boss didn't like those tacos last time? Well, this is worse. The Mega Trinidad Scorpion Burrito with spicy sour cream and pastrami. If I were you, I might want to skedaddle." Toby threatened. I never understood how Toby could handle those burritos. I don't do well with spicy food at all and I've learned not to eat what Toby gives me. He once let me try a burrito that had a salsa that contained the scorpion and ghost peppers. All I remember from that experience was tears streaming down my face and drinking a ton of milk for the next 45 minutes.

As soon as the burrito landed in the lava, we all made a bee line towards the exit. As we were running away from Gatto, Toby shouted, "Ha! It looks like it's "nacho" Kairosect either. See ya, suckers!" I laughed to myself as Jim also commented, "Well, that was almost a clean get away."

We made it safely back to Trollmarket. We observed the Kairosect. None of us really knew how this object worked, so we were waiting for Blinky's response, except all he was saying was how it was intriguing and fascinating. So, I spoke up, "So, how exactly does this thing get Strickler's ring off? I hope we didn't just go into someone's stomach for nothing."

"That is the conundrum. Perhaps someone should've stolen the instruction manual as well." Blinky said. Toby was about to comment on how it doesn't look that complicated, but suddenly, Blinky disappeared. Where did he go?

"Yes! Yes! Eureka! It works!" Blinky exclaimed. We asked him how he got up there to which Blinky responded, "The Kairosect enables it's bearer to step outside of time, affording the opportunity to do this." Suddenly, all of us were somewhere else. Toby was being lifted into the air by Claire's legs. Jim was doing a handstand and Aaarrrgghh was holding three stacks of books. I was suddenly felt pain as I realized I was doing the splits.

"What just happened? I feel so violated." Toby said.

"This is amazing! Do you know what this means? " Jim exclaimed.

"So, that's how you get off someone without them knowing." Claire said.

"We'd have so much time on our hands!" Toby exclaimed.

"I don't have to worry about juggling two lives at once! I could lives all the lives I want!" Jim exclaimed. Toby rambled on how they could travel the world in a day and PhDs in everything and a bunch of other stuff.

"Or you could pass Uhl's Spanish test, unless you want to fail his test." I reminded him. Jim groaned and stated how he forgot about the test.

"Ah. The powers of this devices is limited to three rules. According to the inscription, if my Salickacious is correct, the first is that only one person can step outside of time. Secondly, the time-stopping effect lasts for preciously 43 minutes and 9 seconds." We asked him about the third and Blinky continued, "You can only use it, uh... three times. Well! Now we know the rules!"

"Wait! You just used that thing like twice!" Toby pointed out.

"Well, the first to test it's ability and the second, to demonstrate it to all of you." Blinky said.

"Blink! You wasted our shots. Now, we've only go one chance to get the ring off Strickler." Jim said.

"Well, in that case, I suggest that you assure yourselves of his whereabouts before proceeding." Blinky stated.

"And I suggest that you study for that Spanish final." Claire said. Jim groaned and we both went back home because we both had a busy night ahead of us. While Jim was studying for his final, I graded papers. As soon as I got done, I fell asleep.


	34. It‘sAboutTimePartII

I woke up at around 6:15 this morning because I had to get to school early for another teacher's meeting. I asked Jim last night if he wanted to come with me then, but he said that he would just ride his bike later. Before I left, I still don't know what overcame me, but I took the letter with me. I wanted to read it when I had the time. As I was driving to school, I thought about my father. No matter how much I want to deny it, I want to see him again. I need closure. I got out of the car and looked at the school wondering what it would've been like if he had never left us. How much would've changed?

"Ten minutes till the meeting, Ms. Lake." Senor Uhl stated. I snapped out of my thoughts and headed into the building. I've got to stop thinking about it. There's too much on my plate right now to suddenly go to Vermont. Besides, today I'm meeting Elizabeth and Patrick. I'm so excited to see them again. It's been too long.

As soon as I got done with my teacher's meeting, don't ask what was discussed, just the next month's schedule and who would be in charge of detention's, hall monitoring, and so forth, I walked into my classroom and looked at the clock. I still had a half an hour. I reached into my bag and grabbed the letter. I pulled it out with trembling hands. I opened the enveloped and read the paper inside:

 _Dear Monica,_

 _I am probably the last person you want to hear from right now and I don't blame you a single bit. There is so much that I want to tell you, but it is hard to put them down onto pen and paper. I am so sorry for all the things that I have done to you, your mother, and Jim. It was inexcusable. I've thought about writing this letter for years, but I never had the courage because I was so ashamed. As soon as I left for Vermont with the other woman, I left her because I realized that I had made a terrible and unforgivable mistake. I know that I will never be able to come back to Arcadia Oaks and I feel too ashamed to see or even try to speak to your mother and Jim. I left so early in his life and that is something I truly regret. I also regret leaving you and your mother. I broke two incredibly important promises. My wedding vow to your mother and my vow to never leave you. I regret so much of what I have done. All I am asking is for a second chance. I know I don't deserve it and I won't blame you if you do not come to Vermont. If you are not here in April, I will know my answer. Happy birthday, Monica._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Your Father_

I had to fight the tears that were threatening to come because students were starting to file into the classroom. This was a mistake. I shouldn't have even read the letter. I shoved the letter back into my bag and quickly composed myself before the students could see the battle that was raging inside of me. A part of me wanted to forgive my father, but another wanted to hate him forever. I needed to talk to someone about this. I have to tell Jim about this. He deserves to know the truth. The bell rang and I knew that this was going to be a long day. I quickly wrote a note and gave it to Jim, which said that we needed to talk. I was still planning on meeting Patrick and Elizabeth for lunch and I told him we would talk after school.

I stood up in front of the class and began the lesson. Spanish was first period and I knew that they had a test. While I was teaching, the usual stuff happened. Mary was not so discreetly on her phone, which I confiscated after about 15 minutes of her being on it and Steve was beginning to pick on Eli, which I gave him a detention for. When 2nd period was over, I prepared for the next one. It felt like forever, but, finally, it was time for my lunch period and I went on my way to meet up with Elizabeth and Patrick.


	35. It's About Time Part III

When I arrived at the cafe where I was going to meet Patrick and Elizabeth, I ran into my mother. She was just as surprised as I was and questioned, "What are you doing here. Mo?"

"I'm meeting Patrick and Elizabeth since I haven't seen them since I got back. How about you?" I explained.

"That's great, honey. I'm just meeting, Mr. Blinky. I'll see you later, sweetheart." My mother said. I embraced her and she embraced me while kissing me on my forehead. In that moment, I wanted to tell her everything that has been happening more than ever. After school, I should tell the both of them together. I let her go and I went over to Patrick and Elizabeth who were waiting inside.

"Monica! It's so good to see you!" Elizabeth cried out running over to me and embracing me.

"It's so good to see you as well, Liz." I said laughing. Patrick came over to us and we were all in a group hug.

"Okay. We need to get together more often. It's been around three years since the three of us hung out with each other." Patrick said and we all agreed. Life has a way of keeping you busy and it's been definitely keeping me busy these past couple months that I've been back. I still felt awful that I hadn't contacted them during the two months that I've been back in town.

"How have you guys been? What have you been doing these past couple years?" I questioned.

"Well, I have been working at the library and been taking online classes to get a master's degree in library science so that I can become the head librarian." Elizabeth said brushing back her black hair.

"I finished college not long ago, the same as you, and have been working at the hospital as a nurse. I actually work under your mother. Your mother told me that you got a job at our old school as the English teacher. How has that been treating you?" Patrick explained.

"It's had it's rough moments, but I've been enjoying it there. Everyone has been so nice and the students are mostly well behaved." I mildly chuckled. Patrick and Elizabeth laughed as well and Elizabeth said, "Well, we also have some news. Patrick and I are dating." My eyes widened and I exclaimed, "That's amazing! I'm so happy for you two!" I embraced them again.

After that, we sat down and relived our high school days. Then, Elizabeth and Patrick told me how the two of them had gotten together. It wasn't the most romantic thing. It was fairly simple. They both had known each other for years and the two had gotten even closer when I left for college. Then, Patrick asked Elizabeth out and she said yes. They had been dating for about three months now and things have been going well for them.

"Also, how are things going with you and brother? Has there been any change in Jim's behavior? Your mother hasn't told me much, just that he's been acting strange." Patrick said.

"Well, things are crazy right now. We're still very close and I am trying to help him the best I can. It's hard sometimes and now, with my father..." I stopped right there. I shouldn't have said that. Patrick and Elizabeth both raised their eyebrows and Elizabeth questioned, "What about your father?"

"Did I say my father? No. I said my... brother! Yeah. I meant Jim." I said trying to cover it up.

"Mo, if there's something troubling you. You can talk to us. We've been friends for years." Patrick said placing his hand on my shoulder.

I gave up on lying and told them about the letter and the plane ticket. I even let them read the letter. They were very shocked and when I had finished, Elizabeth asked, "Have you told your family yet?"

"No, I was planning on telling them after school today. I don't know what to do. I'm so confused." I said.

"I can't tell you what to do, Monica. But, I do know that you should tell your mother and brother. They deserve to know. They shouldn't be kept in the dark and I'm glad that you are telling them this afternoon. As for your father, you should do what you think is right." Patrick said as he handed me back the letter.

"Hey! Is there a doctor? There's someone in here and they sound like they're in a world of pain!" Someone called out coming out of the men's bathroom.

"My mother should be nearby and my friend here is a nurse. I'll be back." I told the man. I ran outside and spotted my mother. I said, "Mom, we need your help. Someone just told me that there's someone in the bathroom and that they sound like they're in a world of pain."

"Mr. Blinky!" My mother exclaimed. Oh no. This could not be good. Did I just make a huge mistake? We went to the men's bathroom and my mother knocked on the door saying, "Mr. Blinky, are you okay in there?"

"Blinky, it's me, Monica." I said.

"Monica! Is that really you?" Blinky cried out.

"Mom, can give you give us a moment. Maybe I can convince him to come out." I said. My mother looked at me strangely and stepped outside. Blinky opened the door and he was covering himself with a menu. He was a troll again! Oh no. He's a troll again in the middle of a public place. Blinky pleaded, "Monica, you have to help me!"

"Don't worry. We just need to distract my..." I stopped talking as the door opened. Blinky quickly shut the door as my mother came back in with Patrick in tow.

"I'm fine really. Nothing to see here. Everyone go away!" Blinky yelled.

"Mom, he's just having some bad stomach aches. I gave him some Ibuprofen to help him." I tried to step in.

"He was turning blue like he was having a heart attack. That is not just a bad stomach ache." My mother said. She continued knocked on the door and said, "Please, please, Mr. Blinky. I just want to see that you're alright. I'm a doctor. Alright. Patrick, Monica, help me open this door." Oh no. This was not going to be good.

"Mom... maybe we should... mom, no-" I pleaded as she and Patrick got the door open and they screamed as they saw Blinky as a troll. Then, everything changed. I was suddenly in front of Elizabeth and Patrick. Patrick stopped screaming and I stopped saying no and Elizabeth who's brown eyes looked at us with confusion.

"That was super weird." Patrick said while rubbing his brown hair and his blue eyes looked disconcerted. I was super confused as well. Then, it all made sense. Jim must've used the Kairosect. We all shook it off and agreed that it must've been our imagination because Mr. Blinky had vanished from thin air and we were at the places that we were before. We concluded that there was no reason that there was no way the events that just occurred did. Even though, I knew otherwise.

Before we left, I looked into my purse and realized something. The letter from my father was no longer in sight.


	36. Confrontation

After school was over, I went back home and I was so nervous. Where had the letter gone? I searched the whole cafe with the help of Elizabeth and Patrick and we couldn't find it. Elizabeth, Patrick, and I separated with the promise of meeting again soon. When I got inside the house, I was going to find Jim, but realized that he was probably at Troll market. I went inside my room to grab some homework to grade and head to Troll market only to find Jim in there... reading the letter from dad.

"Jim..." I whispered to shocked to say anything else.

He finished the letter and looked up at me with anger in his eyes. An anger that I never want to see again. He asked, "How long have you had this, Mo?"

"Jim... I was going to tell you and Mom. That's what the note I sent you-" I was interrupted.

"How long?" Jim yelled. Jim has never acted this way and it terrified me. I should've known not to keep this secret for so long. I crossed my arms and looked away in shame while stating quietly, "Since my birthday."

Jim looked at me with shock and betrayal. He said, "And you didn't tell me... Whatever happened to not facing these things alone? What happened to the promise to tell each other when something major happens?" I stood there silent. Guilt was eating me from the inside out. I was such a hypocrite making Jim tell me when something important had occurred and not doing the same when that letter arrived.

My lips trembled and I sobbed, "I'm sorry. I should've told you. I should've. I was so confused. I'm still confused. Ever since I read the letter, my mind has been in a constant battle. You know how hard it was when dad left. On all of us. I need closure. I need to put my past behind me and move forward, but I don't know if going to Vermont is the best idea. But, I do need closure."

I felt arms wrap around me and I wrapped my arms around Jim and I cried into his shoulder. We heard the door open and our mother called for us. Jim looked at me and silently asked if it was alright to tell mom. I nodded my head. We already have so many secrets that are kept from our mom. We can't keep this secret from her too. Our mother came upstairs and she found the two of us in tears.

"What's wrong?" Our mother asked.

I handed her the letter and she dropped the letter in shock too. We all simply hugged one another comforting each other to try and heal the wounds of the past. After about an hour, my mother asked, "What are you going to do?" I thought about it and made my decision.

"I'm not going to Vermont, but I'm not going to leave dad hanging. I'm going to write to him." I answered.

"I think that it's best that we all write to him. We'll do this together. As a family." Jim said. My mother smiled and agreed. We all went to our rooms and we agreed that we would not read what the other wrote. That was between that person and our father. I sat at my desk, pulled out a piece of paper and began to write:

 _Dear Father,_

 _After much consideration, I have decided that it would not be the best idea to go to Vermont, but the decision wasn't made out of hate. Dad, I forgive you. I realize that I needed to let go of the anger that's been holding me back all these years in order to truly heal. Do I think that we'll ever have the relationship that we used to? No, but we will both be able to move forward and not be stuck constantly thinking about the whys and the what ifs. Good-bye, daddy. You are forgiven._

 _Your daughter,_

 _Monica Lake_

I just sat there reading what I wrote over and over again. It was short, but it was to the point. I felt relief flood through me and it brought me an indescribable joy. I had done it and I was healing. No longer did I feel like I had a wall around me. I have forgiven him and I now felt free. Tears ran down my face and I walked out of the room. My mother and Jim were in the living room and we all embraced each other. We put our letters together, put a recent picture of the three of us together, and closed the envelope. We wrote the address that my dad had given me in the letter and we mailed our letter to dad showing him that we have moved forward.


	37. Wingmen Part I

"Then, I took the Kill Stone from him and never looked back." Jim said explaining how he had gotten the Kill Stone. It was incredible story and it explained a lot of what happened. That day is going to hold some questions for Patrick, Elizabeth, and our mother though.

"A valiant risk for the second Triumbric Stone. But, you say Angor Rot's ring was destroyed?" Blinky questioned. This part made me nervous. Since Jim destroyed, technically Angor Rot destroyed, but nonetheless, this could pose as a serious threat to our safety. But, we'll worry about that later.

"Yeah. He wasn't very happy to lose his soul. Now that no one controls him, I guess he'll be on a war path..." Then, realization slapped Jim's face and he exclaimed, "And he might go after Monica! This is not good. Monica, is it possible that you can stay here in Troll market until Angor Rot is defeated?"

"Jim, I'm not going this assassin disrupt my life. Besides, you are in as much danger as I am." I stated while crossing my arms.

"I know, Mo, but it would make me feel better that you would stay here in Troll market." Jim said.

"Look, Jim, I know that you want to protect me, but I can handle myself. I am not defenseless and Draal is there at the house in case I get in any serious danger if you are not around. Also, Angor Rot attacks at night, so I'll be safe during the day. I'll be fine, Jim." I said while placing my hand on his shoulder. I knew that Jim still didn't like this idea, but he knew better than anyone that I can be stubborn.

"All the more reason to find the third and last stone before he shows up again." Claire said as she and Toby walked in.

"Hey! Good to see you back to normal, Blinky. I was starting to miss you there." Toby said while playing with Blinky's four arms. I laughed and agreed with Toby. It was good to see Blinky back to his normal self again. To this, Blinky responded, "My only regret was that I never had a chance to drive one of your automobiles."

"Say, what was that legend again?" I questioned.

"Three forces elemental though must seek in the marshlands, caverns deep, and mountain's peak. If I can memorize four hundred lines of Shakespeare, I can remember that." Claire said as we all looked at her in surprise. That play feels so long ago.

"Check and check on the marshlands and mountain. That just leaves us the caverns deep." Toby said.

"Trouble is, Tobias, all Trolls live in caverns deep. To search them all would far outlast our life-spans." Blinky explained while putting the book Toby was holding away. Then, Blinky said, "Has anyone seen, Aaarrrgghh? If we plan on finding the final stone, we'll need all hands on deck." We went of the library of the library. Blinky went to look for Aaarrrgghh and the rest of us went to unlock the secrets of the Kill Stone.

"I am so excited to see how you'll unlock this Stone, bro." I said lightly punching him on the shoulder. Jim laughed.

"So, the last stone gave you those sweet thigh blades. What do you think this one will do?" Toby wondered.

"I don't know. We'll have to cut it and, then, we'll-" Jim was interrupted by a horn blowing. The lights started to go out and the four of us started to back against one another. Claire wondered, "What was that?"

"Not sure, but stay close." Jim said summoning his armor and I summoned the Thriskule.

"Put that sword and bow away. Don't you know that our guests are sensitive to light?" Bagdwella questioned.

"Guests?" I questioned. We turned our attention the trolls coming through. They were all very large and looked similar to our friend, Aaarrrgghh, and they were carrying a female who was obviously their leader.

"Wow! They all look like Aaarrrgghh." Claire commented.

"Queen Usurna of the Krubera. They reside in the deepest caverns under the Earth's mantle. Rarely, do they venture this close to the surface." Blinky explained. Jim wondered if they knew about the whereabouts of the stone and Blinky responded, "It's possible, if not convenient."

"We need to get a moment to speak with her." I said.

"Agreed, but be patient." Blinky said.

"Your visit is an unexpected honor." Vendel said inviting these people to Troll market.

"Vendel." Queen Usurna greeted. Jim commented on how they were just as talkative as Aaarrrgghh too. Then, we pointed out that Aaarrrgghh was a Gumm-Gumm, to which Blinky explained that he was, but was born a Krubera, then told us to hush. Their attention was direction to us and the Queen said, "Aarghaumont, my kinstroll." The Queen put her forehead against Aaarrrgghh's and the markings on their body glowed. Afterwards the Queen continued, "The centuries pass, yet you remain forever in our hearts."

"My queen." Aaarrrgghh said bowing.

"Allow me to introduce our Trollhunter. Slayer of Gunmar's son. And, I would like to introduce the Wielder of the Thriskule, the Trollhunter's sister." Blinky introduce.

"Uh. James Lake Junior, Your Queen-ness." Jim said.

"And Monica Lynn Lake, Your Majesty." I bowed.

"The human Trollhunter and the Wielder of the Thriskule. I heard stories, but didn't believe. They say that you two have an inseparable bond." The queen said while observing us. I wasn't surprised that she heard about Jim, but I was surprised that she heard about me. Then, Toby came up and nudged us while saying, "Ask her about the stone."

"Your highness... lady, I recently heard a story about the deep caverns, and a magical stone." Jim said.

"A stone?" The queen questioned.

"Your majesty," I said while bowing, I stood up and continued, "This stone is a part of a quest that we have been on for a while and we need your assistance. This stone is part of a trilogy that is called the Triumbric Stones. We merely question if you have it in your possession, your Highness." While it was not exactly how to speak to queen, I hoped that by my response that we did not offend her.

"That is not how you speak to a queen." Vendel said placing his staff in front of us.

"Their informality is amusing. No, Trollhunter and the Wielder. We do not have it. But, I am familiar with that which you seek. It was once in our possession, but stolen years ago." The queen explained.

"But, if you don't have it, why did you come here-" Jim was interrupted by Vendel.

"To celebrate... this rare and momentous visit. I propose a grand match of PyroBligst." Vendel announced.

"Then, it is wise that I brought with me my two heartiest trolls." The queen said presenting two of her trolls who looked very formidable.

"Aaarrrgghh will represent us to be paired with our Trollhunter." Vendel announced. I am glad that I was not Jim in that moment. I did not want to fight against those trolls. Toby cheered for him and Jim asked, "Wait, PyroBligst? What is that? A game?"

"Oh. It is a tradition as old as it is dismembering." Blinky said and I blinked in surprise. Yep. Definitely glad that I am not Jim in this moment of time. As the queen left, she proclaimed,

"I shall look forward to the game, later this evening."


	38. Wingmen Part II

"Long ago, in the Old Wars, Gunmar raided the Krubera caverns. Gumm-Gumms kidnapped their young to enlist them for their army." Blinky explained.

"If the Krubera are so sensitive to light, how come Aaarrrgghh isn't?" Toby questioned.

"Aaarrrgghh was forced to adapt in many ways. Hardened to survive." Blinky answered. We wondered why he didn't speak as eloquently as they did and Blinky answered once more, "Being ripped from your homeland from your home at such a tender age, has a way of stunning one's potential."

"That's the saddest thing I ever heard." Toby said. Then, we heard a different noise and Jim had finished cutting through the Kill Stone. We all peered over at it. It was so small and fragile that one would almost not even want to touch for fear that it would break. Of course, Toby tried to reach for it, but Jim said, "Toby, get back. This is a delicate and sacred ritual and you're drooling all over it."

"Look at that faceting." I commented.

"Two stones done and one more to go... until we can give Gunmar the payback he deserves. The amulet lifted into the air and back into Jim's hand. We went to the Hero's Forge to watch the game.

Once we reached the Hero's Forge, we saw Draal and I waved towards him. I went towards Draal and said, "It has been a while since we last spoke, Draal, and it has been far too long since we last trained together."

"It has indeed. It seems that time has got the better of us. We can reconvene later this evening if you wish." Draal said.

"I shall see you then." I promised. We entered the arena together as Jim was asking about how to play the game. The opponents had grabbed large orb looking ball and were running around and showing off. Draal placed his hand on Jim's shoulder and said, "The object is simple. You and Aaarrrgghh need to get the Gorb past the other team and into the Soothscryer."

"So, it's like a game of basketball, but deadlier. Good luck, bro." I said patting Jim on the back for what I hope would not be the last time. We wondered where Aaarrrgghh was and Blinky thought he was with Toby.

"Blinkus, where is Aaarrrgghh?" Vendel questioned. When Blinky wouldn't come up with a good excuse, Vendel said, "It is imperative that he play. You! The big-headed one. He likes you. Go find him." Toby left and Vendel turned to Draal, "Draal, you're in."

"It would be my honor to compete in the forge once again." Draal said.

"Not compete. Win!" Vendel proclaimed.

"We don't need to be so competitive. It is only a game." I said trying to reason with him.

"This isn't a game." Vendel stated pointing accusingly at me. Why was so determined to win? Isn't it important to just have fun?

"Okay, Vendel, can I have my amulet back now?" Jim wondered.

"You didn't tell the boy?" Vendel questioned turning to Draal. Tell him what? Draal stepped forward and said, "In PyroBligst, combatants must earn their weapons including your amulet. You take the small one. I'll handle the big guy." Draal said as Jim mumbled great and the two marched out into the field. I looked at their opponents and I wondered which one was the smaller the one. The game started and Draal tackled the one of the trolls. Jim went to grab the Gorb, but the other Krubera grabbed Jim and threw out of the arena. Jim barely managed to grab hold of the ledge. I was about to go out and help him along with Claire, but Blinky held us back.

"How was that hit legal?" Claire wondered.

"It nearly killed him." I pointed out.

"Unfortunately, killing is fair play in PyroBligst." Blinky informed us. My face dead panned and I felt like I was beginning to panic. If any of those Krubera killed Jim. First off, I would never be able to live with myself for standing on the side lines and second, those Krubera will feel my fury. Draal and Jim met up and they seemed to have a meeting, then split up. Draal grabbed his weapon and fended off the two Krubera on his own while Jim went to grab his amulet. One of the Krubera escaped Draal and charged towards Jim.

"Jim!" I exclaimed trying to warn him. Jim got the message. Jim dodged the Krubera and used him the Krubera as a boost to grab his amulet. He shouted, "For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!" His armor appeared and I sighed in relief. Now, they have a better chance of winning this competition. The two Krubera rolled towards Jim, but Jim jumped up on one of the metal spikes and used it towards his advantage. Draal threw the Gorb towards Jim, Jim grabbed it, and threw it into the Soothscryer. I cheered and saw that it was now three to one. They could have a shot at winning this.

As Jim grabbed the Gorb, one of the opponents came up behind him and smacked him aside with his mace. I gasped and heard a low horn sound. I looked towards Blinky as Draal was helping Jim up and asked, "Now what?"

"'Tis the Scolding Hour. In your terms, it would be like half-time." Blinky explained. That means... I ran into the arena and quickly embraced Jim. I don't have to stand on the side lines anymore.

"Easy there, Mo." Jim groaned in pain as I hugged him tightly. If you ignored how deadly the game can be, it was kind of entertaining to watch.

"Well done, Master Jim. And by "well done", I mean at least you haven't completely embarrassed yourself, or died." Blinky said.

"The not dying part is what I am most thankful for. Could you imagine that conversation with Mom, Jim?" I asked shuddering at the thought.

"Thanks, Mo. Thanks, Blink." Jim said.

"Aaarrrgghh still isn't here?" Vendel questioned.

"I've tried Toby. No answer. Aaarrrgghh might not make it back" Claire said.

"We must win." Vendel insisted. Why was he so determined for us to win?

"I know, for the glory of Troll market." Blinky said.

"Fools play for glory. We are playing for Aaarrrgghh." Vendel said. We wondered what he meant and Vendel continued, "If they win, they are taking Aaarrrgghh away forever." Vendel explained.

"They can do that!" I exclaimed

"Why?" Jim wondered.

"What! Why! Where! It doesn't matter. Just win the match." Vendel demanded.

"We're not going to win." Jim said.

"We may be down, but we're not out! This is the Forge where heroes are born." Draal stated. We pointed out that we were down 4-1. To this Draal responded, "And we're going to be down one more if we give up on Aaarrrgghh. My father watches us from above. Let us make the Trollhunters of the past proud. Let us make Troll market proud. Let us show our guests the humbling they deserve!" Draal proclaimed.

"Fools play for glory. But, we play for Aaarrrgghh!" Blinky exclaimed. Jim looked back at us and stated,

"For Aaarrrgghh!"


	39. Wingmen Part III

Draal and Jim entered the ring with a new found purpose. The Hero's Forge activated once again as did my nerves. I do have faith in brother, he has survived a lot worse than this. This is just my older sibling instinct. But, I know that Jim can protect himself just fine. He has proved that time and time again. I know that him and Draal can do this.

The game started once more and Draal threw Jim toward the Gorb. Jim landed, but before he could grab it one of the Krubera took it and threw it towards his teammate. Draal came up behind the teammate and fought him, causing the Krubera's teammate to drop the Gorb. The Krubera grabbed the Gorb and Jim charged in front of him yelling, "Aaarrrgghh!" A shield formed in front of Jim and it slammed into the Krubera. A blue light surrounded the two as they collided and Draal grabbed the Gorb and threw it into the Soothscryer.

"Aaarrrgghh!" The two shouted in victory.

"Go, Jim! Go, Draal!" I shouted.

"Since when does Jim have a shield?" Claire questioned.

"He's unlocked the power of his second stone!" The two continued to do extremely well, scoring point after point until it was all tied up. Draal and Jim met up together for a team meeting. Draal had the Gorb and was rolling on the side of the wall with the two Krubera after him. He yelled for Aaarrrgghh and threw it towards Jim and he caught it. Jim used his shield to what I'm assuming was to see where his opponents were behind him.

"Jim! Here!" Draal exclaimed.

"Aaarrrgghh!" Jim yelled while throwing it to Draal. Draal would've had the Gorb, but one of their opponents slammed into Draal's stomach and the other one slammed him into the ground. My eyes widened in fear and I yelled, "Draal!" I ran towards him as Jim was asking Draal if he was okay. Draal shook his head trying to come back and Draal said, "Am I... in the Void? Father? Father!"

"It'll take time for that hit to wear off." Blinky said checking on Draal.

"Will he be alright though?" I questioned.

"Of course, he will, Monica. It'll take a hit ten times harder than that to any real damage to Draal." Blinky said.

"Problem is, he doesn't have time." Claire said pointing towards the Krubera. The Gorb flew into the air and the Krubera grabbed it and the games were about to begin again.

"We'll never find a suitable replacement. You'll have to take them both on." Blinky said.

"By myself, for Pete's sake." Jim complained.

"Not for Pete, for Aaarrrgghh!" Blinky exclaimed.

I hugged my brother and said, "You've got this, bro."

"I hope you're, Mo." Jim said. He went back into the game, which was kind of a battlefield at this point. Jim drew his sword out and charged after his opponents. He grabbed the Gorb, then the two Krubera came rolling towards him. They would've crashed into him, but Aaarrrgghh came crashing down and pinned the two Krubera. He finally arrived! I looked back and noticed that Draal was starting to come around. He stood up, but nearly fell back. I quickly caught him with the assistance of Blinky.

"Easy there, Draal. You just took a nasty hit." I said.

"Monica..." Draal mumbled as he was trying to snap out of his daze. He said, "What's going on?"

"Well, Aaarrrgghh finally arrived." I informed. He turned his gaze towards the game.

I saw Toby coming forward and Blinky exclaimed, "What fortunate timing, Tobias. The Bligst is nearly over."

"I have no idea what's happening. Is that a good thing?" Toby questioned.

"If they score, yes. If the other team scores, no." Claire simply put it. We drew our attention back towards the game. Jim had the Gorb and was dodging the Krubera that kept coming towards him. The Krubera managed to knock him to the ground and before Jim fell, he threw the Gorb towards Aaarrrgghh, who managed to catch it.

"It's all you, Aaarrrgghh!" Jim exclaimed. Aaarrrgghh charged towards the Soothscryer and fought off the Krubera that had jumped onto his back. He kept them at bay long enough to throw the Gorb into the Soothscryer. We won! I was about to go towards them, but remembered that I was holding onto Draal. I told Blinky to go on ahead with the others who had met up with Aaarrrgghh and Jim.

"You didn't have to stay behind. I'll be fine." Draal said.

"I'm just making sure that someone is at your side in case anything unexpected did happen. I wouldn't be a good friend if I just left you." I said placing my hand on his shoulder. Draal placed his hand on my shoulder as well while smiling and said, "Thank-you, Monica." I could feel my cheeks turn a bright red and I didn't understand why.

"Troll market is victorious! A Bligst for the ages." The queen announced. Draal and I cheered.

"The time has arrived that we bid our friends farewell. But, first, one last order of business." Vendel said.

"Aarghaumont... Brother, we know that you are not well, but battled honorably. Will you return with us, your family? Or fight your last days here amongst your friends?" The queen questioned. What does that mean? Draal was well enough to stand on his own two feet and we made our way over towards the too see what was going on.

"What does she mean "his last days?" Toby questioned suspiciously.

"The choice is yours." The queen said.

"Your wound. Creeper's sun poison. Oh, Aaarrrgghh. Why did you not tell us?" Blinky questioned looking at Aaarrrgghh's hand which indeed looked like it was turning to stone.

"Angor Rot must've cut him." Claire said.

"This is my fault. It should've been me that got hurt." Jim said. My eyes filled with tears and I couldn't believe it. Aaarrrgghh was dying.

"Not Jim's fault. Don't wanna leave." Aaarrrgghh said. He looked behind us and I noticed that he was looking at Toby. Those two had a special bond. Oh, Toby. This is going to be so hard for him.

"The only way you'll survive is with your own kind. You must return with them." Blinky insisted.

"We could always visit." I said.

"I'm afraid, Miss Monica, that only the Krubera can thrive in the Deep Caves." Blinky informed. Tears began falling down my cheeks.

"Oh... well... if that means, he..." I couldn't finish the sentence, but Jim finished for me saying, "If it means he lives."

"Aaarrrgghh, what sort of a friend would I be that if I demanded that you stay?" Blinky said.

"I... will go." Aaarrrgghh said placing his hands on Jim's shoulder.

"The times... the laughs..." Blinky said.

"For once, he's speechless. And here, we just got to know each other. I'll miss you, big guy." Claire said hugging him.

"Thank you, Aaarrrgghh for protecting all of us and for being such a good friend." I said embracing him as well.

"Good bye, old friend. I shall protect them in your stead." Draal said placing his hand on Aaarrrgghh's shoulder as Claire and I let go. Aaarrrgghh went over to Toby who was doing his best not to cry in front of us. He held out his fist and asked, "Wing man?" Toby was about to, but ended up not being able to. He ran away and exited the Hero's Forge.

"Get Gunmar for me." Aaarrrgghh said placing his hand on Jim's shoulder. Jim told the big guy to be well. Draal placed his hand on my shoulder and I gave him a soft smile. Before Aaarrrgghh left, he turned towards and said, "Tell, wing man, he family. I, family." We all stood there comforting the other as Aaarrrgghh left with the Krubera.

 **A/N: I know that this isn't the actual end of the episode, but I wanted to do a filler chapter before the actual end of this episode, since the end of this one begins the finale of the season. I hope you all have a great day! I'll try to have that filler in either today or tomorrow.**


	40. Training

Draal, Blinky, and I behind in the Hero's Forge so that I could train while Jim and Claire left. While Draal is my trainer, Blinky is here to cover anything that Draal might miss. Draal and I met in the middle of the arena and charged towards one another. I was taking a more defensive option to attempt to tire him out before I strike.

On the side lines, Blinky said, "Now, you have already accomplished changing the bow into the daggers. Daggers are more of an offensive weapon not a defensive. We have already stated in the past that the Thriskule has abilities that are still not yet known to us, but we are to focus on is to improve your usage of the daggers and the bow while trying to unlock on how to turn the tides of a battle."

"Wait. What?" I exclaimed turning towards him forgetting about Draal who slammed into me while I was distracted. I fell to the ground and groaned. Draal came over and helped me up while stating, "You need to stay focused, Monica."

"You try focusing when Blinky suddenly announces that I have the power to turn the tides of a battle." I retorted.

"We already explained that you have the power to turn the tides of a war." Draal pointed out.

"I didn't think you meant literally!" I exclaimed. Great. Now I see while the Wielder is held in such regard. Everything is making much more sense now. Don't panic. Don't panic. I pressed my hands to the side of my head in an attempt to calm myself.

"Monica, I know that this is a huge responsibility, but we're going to take this one step at a time. The more experience you have, the easier it will be to understand these things. I know that you will accomplish great things as the Wielder of the Thriskule. When you unlock the power to turn the tides of a war, you will be able to help us. To help your brother. In the fight against Gunmar. It may even be possible that he doesn't know that the Thriskule has chosen another Wielder. So, we may have a surprise advantage." Draal said.

This managed to calm me down as I did my best to make sense of these things. Draal was right. While this may have been a complete surprise and a rather terrifying power to wield, we will need to fight Gunmar. We resumed fighting now this time, I was attempting to channel this supposed power of the Thriskule.

Draal charged towards me and I side-stepped out of the way. I threw my daggers towards Draal, but he easily dodged them. I barely managed to roll out of the way. I saw my daggers towards the other end of the arena and wondered. I held out my hand focusing on the daggers while keeping an eye on the charging Draal. Suddenly, the daggers disappeared in a green puff of smoke and reappeared in my hands. I held my daggers in a cross form and barely managed to block Draal's strike with his ax. We both breathed heavily for a moment and Draal said, "Good. You're unlocking the secrets of the Thriskule. Now use it."

He kicked me in the stomach, which sent me flying backwards and rolled as Draal's ax came crashing down. My back was turned from Draal and I was near the exit of Hero's Forge. I gripped my daggers and steadied my breaths closing my eyes. It almost felt like a switch. I felt a surge of incredible power and I turned back opening them to see that Draal was coming straight for me once more. His eyes seemed to widen, but he kept his charge.

It was like I suddenly knew what to do. Seconds before Draal slammed into me, I dropped to my knees, rolled out of the way while tripping Draal in the process. Draal stumbled and fell flat on his face. The power that I had only seemed to grow more as Draal charged once more and I ran towards him, but before anything happened, we heard Blinky yell,

"Aaarrrgghh, you're back!" The both of us got so distracted that the surge of power that I felt vanished and we managed to collide into each other.

"Ow." I groaned.

"Sorry, Monica." Draal said helping me up.

"It's fine, but what..." I never finished my question as it was answered when I turned to be face to face with Aaarrrgghh.

"Aaarrrgghh! You're back! I'm so happy to see you, but why are you here? What about your wound?" I questioned.

"Must fight Gunmar. This is family. This is home. Must go see, Wing man." Aaarrrgghh said. He left us to go find Toby.

I couldn't stop smiling and Draal chuckled, "That stubborn brute." I embraced Draal because I was just so happy in that moment. Draal stiffened and I instantly let go saying, "Sorry. I was just so happy that I needed to hug someone..." I was cut off by Draal hugging me with Blinky joining in as well. We were all just grateful to have Aaarrrgghh back.

"You don't need to apologize. I was just taken aback for a moment." Draal said with the softest smile that I had ever seen. Once more, I could feel my cheeks burn.

After that, I seemed to have an internal battle with myself. Seriously, why was I getting so flustered? Do I... No, I refuse to go there... but... Monica, girl. We need to get our priorities straight. I couldn't be crushing on him... could I? Monica, girl... But, he's so brave, self-less, caring... Monica Lynn Lake!

"Monica," Blinky said catching my attention, he continued, "While you were fighting Draal, I noticed a change come about you. A green aura seemed to surround you and I noticed that battle seemed to turn in your favor. Do you agree with this, Draal?"

"Yes, I think you could've had a fair shot of beating me if the battle wasn't interrupted with such a welcomed surprise." Draal confirmed.

"I could feel it too. I felt a surge of power come over me, but I have no idea how I unlocked it. It was like a light switch." I explained.

"You have scratched the surface of the power that can turn the tides of battle. This is very good, Monica." Blinky said. We begun the training session once again and lasted for about an hour before I realized how late it was getting when I checked the time on my phone. I was disappointed because I wasn't able to unlock that power again and I now know how Jim feels when he has his training sessions with Draal in the early mornings, but I knew that I needed to return back home.

"This was a good training session, but I need to return home. My papers need to be graded and I would love to not lose more sleep than I have to while grading them." I said.

"I shall come with you, Monica." Draal said. I nodded and we made it back home through the tunnel that Draal had made a while back. When we arrived home, I was surprised to find Strickler tied up in our living room with Jim protecting him.

What was going on?


	41. Angor Management Part I

Jim, Draal, and I guarded the house all night, but there was no sign of Angor Rot. It wasn't any surprise that Angor would go after Strickler, but I was more worried about my mother. Strickler and my mom are bound together, so if Angor killed Strickler than he would kill my mother too. We had moved Strickler in Mom and I's office which was connected to the kitchen. When the sun was rising, I decided to do grade some papers. Since Strickler was in the office, I had to take them upstairs to my room.

After about an hour, I returned to see Strickler in the kitchen eating some cereal and Draal complaining about Strickler being here. Draal said, "Why trust this changeling when all he does is betray you"

"Because... Because unfortunately, I have to. Is this all the canned food we have?" Jim questioned.

"Well, we've all been a bit too busy to buy anymore." I said.

"You need more? Mm. We should chop him into little pieces and can him right now." Draal stated.

"Did you forget the binding spell? If we hurt him, we hurt our mother." Jim gesturing between myself and himself. Too make things worse, Strickler flicked a piece of cereal that landed on Draal and Draal would've punched him, but held himself back. He turned towards us and said, "Say you do get him out of town. What's stopping Angor Rot from finding him?"

"He has a point, Jim. We won't be able to protect him from Angor Rot if we come back to Arcadia and if Angor finds him..." I trailed off letting the others figure it out for themselves.

"I don't know. We disguise him." Jim said.

"Disguise? Angor is a cunning and ruthless assassin. You think he'll be fooled by a hat and mustache?" Draal questioned as Jim was grabbing stuff out of the fridge.

"He has a point, Jim." I said.

"Then, I guess we fight him. Far, far away from here." Jim said.

"I do not like this plan. He could strike at any place He would have the tactical advantage." Draal said.

"Jim, I want to protect our mother as much as you do, but we have to think this through. We could be putting mom in a lot more danger if we make some mistake either it by having Strickler staying here or getting him out of town." I reasoned.

"I don't know, okay? I don't have all the answers! Sorry, I know it's not a well thought out plan, but we have to leave." Jim exclaimed. Then, his phone started ringing, he said, "Shh. It's mom." He answered while yawning, "Hey, Mom. Uh, how are you? I just got up... Yeah, I think Monica's still here. MO!"

"Yeah, Jim?" I called back keeping up the charade.

"See, she's here too. Just talking to Mom, Mo!" Jim said.

While Jim was talking to Mom, Strickler said, "Nice arm. Did you get that at the toy store?"

Draal growled and would've hit him, but I stood between those two glaring at them both and whispered angrily, "Enough you two. Quit acting like children." Mostly giving the glare towards Strickler.

"You're gonna be gone all weekend? Oh, sucks, Mom." Jim informed us. I caught on to what he was trying to tell us. This could give us a huge advantage. Then, Jim said, "Sure. Sure, I could hold down the fort... I'll add it to my resume. Mo, Mom's going to be gone all weekend!"

I walked to the other side of the room and called, "Okay! Tell mom I love her!"

"She loves you too, Mo! Okay. Bye, Mom. Yeah, yeah. I love you too." Jim said then, hung up.

"She'll be out of the house all weekend?" Strickler questioned.

"Yeah. The house will be empty." Jim said and I smiled knowing what the two were thinking.

"Fine. I have rocks for brains. Would someone tell me what's so obvious?" Draal questioned.

"We are gonna hold down the fort." I explained.

"We survived one night. He's not going to survive the next." Strickler finished.

"Right. We fight here. Take back the tactical advantage. An ambush! Yes, I like it." Draal approved. Jim finished putting stuff away and turned towards us saying, "But, we're going to need supplies."


	42. Angor Management Part II

Draal and I were just coming back from Troll market with supplies for the fight with Angor Rot. We had to dodge Blinky, Aaarrrgghh, Toby, and Claire on our way out. The house was being turned into a mini battlefield and I was very thankful that Mom wasn't coming home because she would flip if she knew what the house was being turned into. When we got back, I saw Jim grabbing something from the shelf as Draal and I exited the tunnel.

He turned around and screamed as he saw the both of us. This reaction was so worth keeping this a secret from Jim. He exclaimed, "Whoa! Whoa. Why is there a whole in my basement?"

"How else am I supposed to get around when the sun is out. Don't worry. It only leads to the sewers. Nobody knows about it but Monica and I." Draal assured him.

Once Jim calmed down, he asked, "How long have you known about this, Mo, and why did you not tell me?"

"About a couple months. I wanted to see how long it took for you to notice it. I'm actually quite surprised that you just noticed it now and that Mom hasn't discovered it either." I chuckled. Jim glared at me, but before the two of us could start an argument, Strickler came down the stairs and asked, "Did you get the Lode stone?" Draal picked up a green rock and I picked up the blue one. The two snapped together like a magnet. Then, all the metal objects in the room floated in the air, Jim and I crouched down the floor and covered our ears due to the noise coming from the rocks being loud, but, before the objects flew towards us, Draal separated the two rocks.

Jim and I stood up and Jim said, "I'll take that as a yes." Draal laughed and held the two rocks as a trophy.

"It's almost nightfall. Come on, there's more work to be done." Strickler said.

We continued to set up traps and as we were setting up the last one, Jim informed, "Okay, that's the last one. Now, all we do is wait."

"You know, I'm a bit surprised by how well we work together." Strickler pointed out. Then, Jim pulled on the rope and it grabbed onto Strickler's neck. Jim stated, "You know, I'm still gonna take you down after all this is over."

"We're going to take you down." I corrected Jim. I wanted to pummel Strickler after everything he did, especially for the binding spell he put on our mother. Jim nodded in agreement and Draal laughed behind us.

"Perhaps, if we get through this, I could talk to my constituents about the Eye of Gunmar. I assume you're still interested in finding the last Triumbric stone." Strickler said.

"You know where it is?" Jim questioned.

"Personally, no. But, my ilk are wide and numerous. Where there's a will, there's a way." Strickler informed us.

"Why would you help me kill Gunmar?" Jim questioned.

Strickler chuckled, "Let's just say, I'm always looking out for my best interests." Draal kept sharpening his ax behind the two of us.

"What a shocker." I said.

Draal gasped and questioned, "What is that?"

"It's his eye!" Strickler exclaimed. When we asked if it was Gunmar's eye, Strickler exclaimed, "No! Angor's! He's been watching us! Get it!" We went to catch while shouting to get it while Draal complained, "Gunmar's eye, Angor's eye. Enough of these eyes!" Strickler, Draal, and I attempted to grab it, but failed as the eye jumped out of our grasp.

"No!" I exclaimed as it was heading for the sink.

Suddenly, Jim caught the eye before it went down the pipe and covered the cup with a plate. He turned towards us and asked, "How long has he been watching us?" Suddenly, the door rattled and Jim stated, "He's here. Get in position." Draal went towards the stairs, Strickler hid behind the couch, Jim hid near the closet, and I hid in the kitchen ready to jump onto the counter. Jim summoned his armor and I summoned my bow.

The door opened and to Jim and I's horror, it was our mother. She exclaimed, "Hey, Monica, Jim, you home? Wanda messed up my schedule again. Guess I have the day off after all."

"Mom, watch out!" Jim and I exclaimed. I came out of the kitchen to see that Jim push our mother away from an incoming ax and our mother asked, "Whoa! Holy- Why is there an ax in the door?"

"Mom!" I exclaimed running towards her to help her up.

"Barbara! Are you alright?" Strickler questioned.

"I'm fine. Whoa! Holy- How-? What is-?" Mom questioned pointing towards Jim's armor and my bow. Jim hid his sword behind his back and I whispered the Thriskule to disappear. The two of us chuckled nervously as we realized that we may have just revealed to our mother who we were. Our mom noticed Strickler and questioned, "W-Walt? Why are you here? And why are you holding a crossbow?"

"Me? Uh, yes. You see, um, there's a school project I gave Jim and Monica is helping us out and, uh..." Strickler attempted explain, but he accidentally fired the crossbow that he hid behind his back and the arrow hit the light and broke it. Our mother groaned.

Suddenly, Draal came out screaming, "Die, Angor!"

"Draal, wait! Stop! Get back!" I exclaimed stepping between him and my mother. Jim and I held Draal back as he roared and my mother screamed. He stopped as he realized what was going on, then said sheepishly, "Um. Hello. Sorry."

Mom got the perfume that she kept in her purse while screaming and Jim exclaimed, "No, no, no! Mom! Mom, it's okay!"

"He's a-" I never finished because our mother sprayed the perfume in our eyes and Jim and I screamed, "Ah! My eyes!" I heard Draal screaming beside me. I tried to rub them while moving around, then I tripped over a rope as my vision started to clear. I was about to be hit with one of the traps.

"Monica!" Jim exclaimed. Draal managed to push me out of the way and took the hit from the traps. I was pushed several feet back and watched in shock as he knocked into the bookshelf by a series of traps. The bookshelf landed on top of him. I scrambled up to my feet and ran over there exclaimed, "Draal!" Jim and I pushed the bookshelf off of him while our mother kept screaming.

"It's okay, Mom!" Jim exclaimed.

"He's a friend." I stated. Draal was knocked out.

"He _was_ a friend. Now he's out cold." Strickler pointed out. Our mother starting moaning, putting her hands on the sides of her head, and screamed at the top of her lungs once more before she passed out. Strickler walked between Jim and I saying,

"And so is she."


	43. Angor Management Part III

After Mom awoke, Strickler gave Mom some water while Jim and I explained to her about our double life. When we had finished, Strickler asked, "More water, Barbara?" Mom grabbed the picture and drank the whole thing.

When she had finished, she said, "So, let me get this straight, There are good trolls and bad trolls, and somehow, you two?" Mom was interrupted by Strickler who said, "If I may. There is a vast world beneath our feet, Barbara, and your children, specifically your son, has stirred up a heap of trouble."

"Dude!" Jim exclaimed.

"Excuse me!" I proclaimed about ready to fight Strickler on this matter.

"This is all so..." Mom said. Strickler left the room stating that he would give the three of us a moment. Mom continued, "I can't believe that this what you've been doing. All those late nights, getting arrested, you in the hospital... And, you, Mo, how could you of all people not tell me about this? Also, why are you two this... Trollfighter and Wielder?"

"Uh, Trollhunter and Wielder of the Thriskule. And, Mom, don't blame, Mo. I made her not tell you." Jim said and I gave Jim a half-hearted smile in appreciation. It has been very rough these past few months and I have not enjoyed the arguments that the three of us got into when Jim and I arrived back late at night. Mom kept stammering until she got out, "You should be worried about high school and girls. And you, Monica, you should be worried about your job! Not these... Can't you just ask someone else to do it?"

"I'm... I'm afraid it's a... permanent position." Jim said. Then, Jim continued, "They need us, Mom. I know it's hard to believe, but I'm, sorta like, their protector, and Monica has strange ability with the Thriskule that can help turn the tides of war."

"Apparently, I have the ability to literally turn the tides of war." I added. Jim looked at me in shock and I stated, "Hey. I just found out about this yesterday. Didn't exactly have time to tell you with everything going on."

"But, who's going to protect you two?" Mom questioned.

"Our friends. We are not without allies, Mom. Take Draal here." I said pointing towards our knocked out friend. I continued, "He's been living in the basement almost the entire time that Jim has been a Trollhunter. Protecting us. He's the son of the previous Trollhunter, Kanjigar."

"Wait. He's been here these past few months? Has he figured out about your 'secretly wild' karaoke nights that you do when Jim and I aren't home?" Barbara questioned. My eyes widened in horror and I exclaimed, "You know about that?"

"What is she talking about?" Jim questioned. Before Mom could answer, I covered her mouth and answered, "Nothing. Nothing. And, yes, because I temporarily forgot that he was living in the basement." Mom chuckled and thankfully let the subject drop.

"Barbara, you do have to leave. It's-" Strickler was interrupted when the bells started ringing. The basement. Angor Rot knew about the tunnels. Then, the bells exploded as the trap was set loose.

"The basement!" Jim exclaimed.

"What's in the basement?" Mom questioned.

"Draal was supposed to guard it." Strickler said.

"Well, we weren't expecting Mom either." I said trying to defend Draal. The door opened and we stared in horror and wonder as a black ball rolled towards us. We heard some chanting and the lights went out. Great. Just great. This is just like a horror movie. I only hope that none of us gets killed.

"What happened to the lights?" Mom questioned. Then, puffs of pink smoke kept appearing one at a time as the chanting continued. This is happening. Remain calm, Monica. Don't panic.

"Mom, stay close. Monica, guard Mom and Strickler." Jim ordered.

"I can't see you!" Mom exclaimed. Jim turned on a flashlight. The light bulbs started to get smashed and each time it did, Jim and I gasped in fear. Then, Jim said, "For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command." His armor appeared, then I summoned the Thriskule and willed it to transform into daggers. Mom wondered how Jim was glowing and how I now had daggers, to which Jim responded, "It's armor and special perk, Mom. Part of the job."

Suddenly, the pink balls of flame flew towards us. Jim deflected it and I deflected it as it came towards us.

"Stick to the plan. You two know what to do." Strickler said. How were we going to lead him upstairs? As Jim and I stood back to back ready for Angor to show up. We heard a noise and we both turned to see nothing, then a pink ball of flame flew towards us. While Jim deflected it, I spotted Angor Rot. Angor Rot jumped towards Jim, but I quickly got in front of him and blocked him. Angor Rot quickly grabbed my arm and flew me towards the table.

"Monica!" Mom shouted.

When I crashed, it shattered the table and I groaned as I stood up. I looked over and saw that Jim was pinned back against one our barriers. Angor Rot said, "You did not run, brave hunter, but the brave are the first to die."

"Jim!" I cried out. I grabbed one of hardcover books and threw it towards Angor Rot while exclaiming, "You will not hurt my baby brother!" Angor Rot turned and charged me once again, but I quickly got out of reach before he could run into me. He attempted a second charge proclaiming, "I will kill you and your brother, Wielder. I will make your brother watch as I slay you before his eyes!"

"No!" Jim exclaimed. He attacked Angor Rot from behind and I shouted towards Strickler and my mom, "Go! Go! Get her out of here!"

Strickler grabbed my mother and had to practically drag her out of the room as Mom shouted, "No! Not without my children! No! Jim! Monica!" I saw out of the corner of my eye as Strickler got her to the basement. I returned my attention back to Angor Rot. Jim and I fought two on one, but Angor Rot was an incredibly skilled fighter. He kept blocking our strikes and missed the traps we had set off. I grabbed Angor's arm and flipped him over my shoulder.

He threw his dagger towards me, but before it reached me, Jim deflected it with Daylight. Suddenly, Angor Rot performed his magic and he was able to wield Daylight. He struck Jim and flew him back several feet.

"Jim!" I exclaimed. I quickly got in the middle of the fight and had my daggers in a cross formation blocking Angor Rot's strike just like it did Draal's. I held him at bay as Jim moved behind me and went towards the cross bow that had the Lobe Stone. Angor Rot ditched me and went after Jim. Jim ducked behind the counter, then fired the cross bow at Angor Rot, who caught it with ease.

"You'll have to be faster than that." Angor Rot said. I quickly stood next to Jim. Then, the two of us ducked as all the metal objects in the room flew towards him. There was a moment of silence and stared at my daggers and recalled what Draal told me long ago about them: _It is said that in the their time of need, The Thriskule can be wielded by the Trollhunter. In return, Daylight can also be wielded by the Wielder._

 _"_ You think that you can stop me with booby traps?" Angor Rot questioned as he climbed out of the rubble.

I turned to Jim and said, "Jim, time to switch weapons." I forced my daggers into his hands before he could protest and the daggers transformed into a replica of Daylight. Except green.

"What about you, Mo?" Jim wondered.

"Trust me!" I stated. Jim didn't say another word and I charged towards Angor Rot exclaiming, "Rule Number Three!" I kicked him in the Gronk-Nuts and seized Daylight from him and wielded the sword of the Trollhunters. I turned towards Jim and explained, "In their time of need, the Thriskule can be wielded by the Trollhunter and Daylight can be handled by the Wielder."

"Let's do this, sis." Jim stated. I gave a curt nod, then two of us dodged Angor Rot's strike.

We continued fighting and I was struggling on how to use Jim's weapon and kept ducking and dodging as Angor Rot kept fighting with with the dagger that he retrieved. Jim made this sword to appear a lot lighter than it actually was. Angor also was now wielding one of the kitchen knives. Jim came from behind him, but Angor Rot quickly kicked Jim in the gut, which sent him flying backward.

"No!" I exclaimed. I quickly charged at Angor Rot, but he turned quickly around slashed my right hip with the kitchen knife. I screamed in pain and Jim shouted, "Monica!" Angor grabbed me and threw me against the wall and I felt something in my shoulder pop out of place. I looked at my hip and saw that the cut was deep.

This is what I get for not having armor and fighting in a place with not enough space to move around.

Then, Angor turned around and encased Jim who was coming at him at full speed in a net that was filled with the pink flames from earlier.

Angor Rot grabbed my good arm and forced me on my knees in front of Jim. Tears were streaming down my eyes from the pain of the popped shoulder socket and the gash on my right hip. Angor Rot grabbed my neck and forced Daylight against it.

"Monica!" Jim exclaimed struggling with all his might to get free.

"I'm sorry, Jim." I cried.

"Now, you watch her die." Angor Rot said, but before he could deliver the final blow, a sharp object almost like a knife, flew threw the air. I collapsed to the ground and turned to see Strickler. The magic on Jim disappeared and he ran over to me and lifted me up gently.

"Monica, no." Jim said with tears in his eyes.

"Jim, I'll be fine. Finish the fight." I said.

"Let's put this mad dog down. Upstairs!" Strickler stated.

Jim nodded back to me and saying, "For you, Mo." He set me against the wall grabbing the Thriskule and charged up the stairs while Angor Rot was distracted. But, as Jim was going up the stairs, Angor grabbed him and pulled him down, but, before he could pull him down fully, Strickler jumped over Jim and knocked Angor to the side. Angor attacked Strickler, but before he could do anything, Jim shouted, "Hey! You hunt Trollhunters? Hunt me! Or did you forget that I'm the one who destroyed your soul?"

Angor tossed Strickler to the side and charged towards Jim. I attempted to stand up, but groaned in pain. Strickler came over to me and said, "You need to stay here, Ms. Lake. You've done you're part. Now, we'll do ours."

"Make sure that Jim is safe." I said as I heard noise from upstairs. Strickler nodded, then ran up the stairs to aide Jim. When no other noise was happening, I assumed that the trap that we had set for Angor Rot worked. We had devised the same trap that Angor Rot and set up for Jim long ago that enabled him to enchant Daylight to turn against Jim.

Then, to my horror, Mom showed up and gasped, "Monica! Are you alright?"

"Never been better, Mom, but, seriously, I'll be just fine. What are you doing here though?" I questioned.

"To help you two. Oh. That monster is going to pay for hurting my baby girl." Mom growled. She ran up the stairs and I heard her shouting upstairs. Oh no. I heard Jim scream, "Mom, no!" They were in trouble. Then, I heard movement beside me and saw that Draal was stirring. I heard fighting upstairs and I was panicking. I struggled to get up. I managed to get up to my feet, but when I took a step, I screamed in pain.

"Monica!" Draal exclaimed. He caught me before I fell and questioned, "This was Angor's doing, wasn't it. By my honor, he will pay for this."

My attention was diverted towards my mother crying out in pain. My eyes widened in fear and I turned to Draal and said, "Go! I'll be fine. They need your help." Draal nodded and charged up the stairs screaming in rage. Jim was walking down the stairs helping our mom who was injured.

"Mom!" I exclaimed. I gritted my teeth and stood up making my way over to them. Then, I asked, "What happened?"

"Angor Rot struck Strickler. You shouldn't be standing up, Mo." Jim said.

"My side hurts. Why-?" Mom was interrupted by Jim who said, "Come on, I have to get you out of here."

"I don't know how I'm going to carry Mom and you." Jim stated as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Judging by the state of Mom's wound, I couldn't imagine Strickler being in much better shape.

"Then, go. Leave me. I'll only slow you down. You'll need Strickler to drive and he can't have any more energy wasted by carrying me." I said. Jim was about to protest, but I stated, "My life is not the one hanging in the balance right now." Jim looked towards my mother and I knew that I had won the argument.

"Go! Get them out of here!" Draal shouted from upstairs. Strickler came running down and was about to help me, but I said, "No. Go with Jim and my mother. They will need whatever strength you are able to spare." Jim, my mother, and Strickler left the house and drove away. A few moments later, I could no longer here Draal's battle cries. Something was wrong.

Using the bit of strength I had left, I crawled up the stairs. I would've summoned the Thriskule, but Jim was using it and he needed it more than I did at the moment. I saw glowing in the room and feared that the worst had happened to Draal. I crawled towards the entryway. I armed myself with a book prepared to fight Angor Rot if I had too. I stood up trying my best to ignore the pain though I knew that this small amount of strength wouldn't last long. I charged into the room and realized that Angor Rot was not in here. He had gone out the window and after Jim, Mom, and Strickler.

I landed on one knee and, to my surprise, I saw Draal who was in a stasis trap.

"Draal!" I exclaimed. I could here him grunt in surprise. I had to get him out there. I took a deep breath, stood up, and charged at Draal. I pushed him out of the stasis trap and trap was broken. I cried out in pain as I landed on the wound of my right hip. I breathed heavily as I knew that I used up the last of my strength.

"Monica!" Draal exclaimed. He carefully lifted me up and carried me to the basement towards the tunnel. He said, "Why did you stay behind? You were supposed to go with Jim and the others."

"Would've slowed them down." I said.

"Don't worry, Monica. I'm taking you to Troll market now. You're going to be alright." Draal promised. My eyes grew dreary and my body weakened from the loss of blood. Then, I passed out as Draal carried me through the tunnels. To Troll market.


	44. Waking Up

**Jim's POV**

After leaving my mother before I took her to the hospital to try and cover this all up, I went to check on my sister. So much has happened and I blamed myself for getting the two of them hurt. I shouldn't have dragged either of them into this. When I reached the place where Monica was still healing, I saw Draal was still guarding her. He never left her side.

"Draal, thank you for getting her here and for watching over her while I was helping my mother. I wish I could've been there for the both of them." I said.

"When I was injured during the PyroBligst, she never left my side. In return, I will not leave hers." Draal said. Ever since Draal became Monica's trainer, the two have become close.

"You care for her, don't you." I said staring at my sister's unconscious form.

"Yes, but it feels different. What I'm feeling is the same way how you described your feelings for Claire. Ever since the PyroBligst, I have had these stirrings." Draal confessed.

My eyes widened and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I exclaimed, "You have feelings for my sister?"

"Yes, Trollhunter. I do." Draal stated.

I stared at Draal and at my sister. To be honest, it was strange and I didn't know what my sister felt for Draal. Monica and I don't usually have these kind of discussions, but I have noticed that she has grown fond over Draal and I've also noticed how quick she is to defend him, however, she is like that with those she holds dear to her. Maybe she does have feelings and if she did, I guess I wouldn't be against it, so long as she is happy. I turned to Draal and said, "You have my permission, Draal, but, if you hurt my sister in any way..."

"By my honor and my father's honor, I would never." Draal swore. Pretty soon, Blinky and Aaarrrgghh joined us. All of us had been worried about Monica and we were eager for her to wake up soon. Then, we noticed Monica begin to stir.

 **Monica's POV**

I opened my eyes to see to see my brother, Draal, Blinky, and Aaarrrgghh standing there. What happened? Suddenly, everything came back and I exclaimed, "Jim, is Mom okay?"

"Monica!" Aaarrrgghh exclaimed embracing.

"Welcome back, Monica!" Blinky exclaimed embracing me. Pretty soon all of us were in a group hug.

Jim chuckled, "Yes, and you are going to be fine too. She's is free from the binding spell, but, Mo. There's something else."

"What is it?" I wondered.

"She won't remember anything about us being the Trollhunter and the Wielder. That was the side effect of removing the binding spell." Jim said. I grew frustrated when I heard this. After everything that we just went through, Mom won't remember a thing. Now we have to continue to lie to her.

I looked straight at Jim and said, "Please. Promise me that we'll tell her one day."

"I promise. We will tell her one day." Jim swore. This gave me some relief and I attempted to stand up. There was a dull pain in my right hip from where the wound was inflicted, but my shoulder seemed to have healed. I'm assuming this is because of the work of Vendel.

"It's going to be a couple days before you're fully healed, so make sure to go easy. Vendel was able to speed up the healing process, which would've normally taken weeks if it was to heal on it's own." Jim said.

"Where's Claire and Toby?" I questioned realizing that Claire and Toby weren't here.

"Claire and Toby got caught by Coach Lawrence when getting the unbinding spell from Strickler's office and have to stay at the Spring Fling. It was quite the ordeal when Draal came dashing into Troll market carrying you. He refused to leave your side" Jim explained.

My cheeks turned a slight shade of red and Jim looked at me with confusion. I turned to Draal and embraced him saying, "Thank you for getting me here and for staying by my side."

"You would've done the same. In fact, you have done the same." Draal said.

"Ooookay. Monica, do you think you can help me get Mom to the hospital?" Jim questioned.

"Yes, I believe that I am well enough." I said. I took a step and I had a slight pain in my hip, but it was bearable. When we got our mother to the hospital and convinced the doctors that there was an accident and she passed out from it, we waited for her to wake up. While we were waiting, Jim turned to me and asked, "Monica, do you have feelings for Draal?"

"Where is this coming from?" I questioned.

"Well, I noticed that you blushed around him earlier and I've noticed how close you've gotten to him. It's only fair that you admit that you have feelings for him since you made me tell you about my feelings for Claire." Jim said.

He had a point. I sighed and said, "Yes, I have begun to like him as more than a friend recently. It began truly during the PyroBligst." Jim's eyes widened and I could tell that he was shocked and I even surprised myself with this revelation.

"Whatever happens between the two of you, Mo. Just know that I just want you to be happy." Jim said placing his hand on my shoulder. I smiled and said, "Thank you, Jim." The two of us stopped talking when Mom starting talking, "Jim, Monica, is that you? Honey, what happened?"

"Mom, something happened last night. Something you can't tell anyone." Jim said. My eyes widened and I wondered if he was truly going to tell her. I stayed silent because this was his decision if he truly wanted to tell our mother about our double life.

"What is it? Why do you look so worried?" Mom questioned.

"Well, uh... there was an accident. You fainted, you bumped your head and Monica and I got you here." Jim said. I grew frustrated, but knew that Jim would tell her when he was ready.

"My heroes. I know there are things going on with you, Jim. Things that you don't want to tell me. Even if you won't tell me, I'm glad that you've at least shared them with Monica." Mom said.

"There are? I mean, you do?" Jim questioned.

"Well, sure. You're 16. You have your own life. I just want you to know... there's nothing you can't share with me. Whatever it is, I can take it." Mom stated. Both of us looked at us and smiled knowing well that she could. I know that Jim was just trying to protect her, but it was getting harder to keep this from her with each day that passed.

"I know you can." Jim said. The two of us left the hospital knowing well that she would be safe there. We still had much left to do with the threat of Angor Rot. However, we needed a break from that at least for the moment. I looked at the time and noticed that it wasn't too late in the evening and the Spring Fling was still going on. I looked at Jim and said, "Hey, Jim. The Spring Fling is still going on."

"Do you really think that it's the best idea to go to it?" Jim questioned.

"Jim, you need to rest and have a bit of fun before diving back in to defeat Angor Rot. Besides, you and Claire have been looking forward to this dance for a long time." I said as I pulled up to the driveway of our home. Jim thought for a moment then said, "I think I have a better idea than going to the Spring Fling. Thank you, Mo." He kissed my cheek and got on his Vespa driving towards the school. I don't know what my little brother had in mind, but I knew that Claire would love it either way.

When I got into the house, I was shocked to see how much damage that the fight between Angor Rot and us caused. This was going to take forever to clean up. As I was cleaning up, I noticed the door to the basement open and saw Draal come up the stairs.

"Do you need help, Monica?" Draal questioned.

"I thought that you didn't clean." I said with an amused smile remembering that story of Draal's first night here that Jim told me a while back.

"Well, you look like you could use the help and since you're still healing..." Draal trailed off.

"I would appreciate the help, Draal." I said. I took a while, but we got everything cleaned up.

"Where's Jim?" Draal questioned.

"He went to the Spring Fling." I said.

"What's a Spring Fling?" Draal questioned.

"Oh. It's a dance that the students go to every year to have some fun." I explained.

"Well, since Jim is dancing, would you care to dance?" Draal wondered. I was shocked, but said, "Sure." I put on some music and the first song that popped up was the first song that Draal and I ever danced to. _Don't Stop Believing_ by Journey.

As we were dancing, Draal said, "Monica, ever since the PyroBligst, I have had feelings for you similar to the way Jim described his feelings for Claire. I was wondering... would you do me the honor of courting me?"

I stopped dancing and stared at him in shock. Then, I recovered and my face lit up with a smile and I responded, "Yes, Draal. I would love too." Draal shared a smile that was equal to mine. He embraced me and I embraced him.

Our foreheads pressed together and I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.


	45. Something Rotten Comes this Way Part I

Not long after Draal and I had officially become a couple, I received a call from my brother. When he had gotten done explaining everything that had happened since we parted, I nearly dropped the phone in shock. I told him that Draal and I would be there soon. When I hung up, Draal questioned, "What is going on?"

"Well, Angor Rot obtained a Horngazel." I said.

"What? How?" Draal exclaimed.

"When Claire and Toby were at the school, Angor Rot was there and he saw the Horngazel in Claire's purse. Jim has already alerted everyone at Troll market and they're preparing everyone for war. I told him that we would get down there as soon as possible." I said.

"Monica, you shouldn't be going down there. You're still healing from the last fight with Angor Rot." Draal said.

"Draal, I am mostly healed. I am able to fight and I am not going stand on the side lines. My only regret is that we didn't get to do anything more to celebrate that we are now a couple." I said while holding his hand.

Draal smiled and said, "There will be time for that later. I promise. For now, we must go to Troll market. When we are preparing for battle, make sure to try to connect with the Thriskule. If there was time when needed the Wielder the most, now is it." Draal and I made our way to Troll market. When we got there, Draal told me that he needed a moment to speak to his father and when he left, I placed a kiss on his cheek knowing full well that he was not ready for an actual kiss.

After Draal left, I summoned the Thriskule. How am I going to unlock this power to turn the tides of battle? I willed the Thriskule turn into daggers. Maybe I'm going about this wrong. Maybe I have to connect more with the Thriskule in order to achieve these goals. I set up some practice dummies. I notched an arrow and aimed. How... How do I connect more with the Thriskule? Maybe... Maybe I'm supposed to bond with it. Maybe the Thriskule and I are supposed to fight as one. I've been treating like an ordinary object when this weapon is unlike anything that I've ever seen.

I set up a dummy and took my stance with a new mindset. The Thriskule and I must work as one. I charged the dummy and my attention was drawn to a ledge on the stone wall.. A green aura seemed to surround me and I realized this was working. I jumped onto the ledge and used the momentum to push myself towards the dummy. To my surprise, I didn't even have to will the bow into the daggers. It must've sense what I was attempting to do. Before I landed, I beheaded the dummy and my daggers suddenly glowed a bright green. I had to cover my eyes because the light was too much. When it faded, there was inscription. I gasped in shock when I read it and I knew what I had to do when we faced Angor Rot.

"Monica, you ready?" Jim questioned. The green light had completely faded and my daggers transformed into the bow once more.

"Yeah. I'm ready." I said. While Jim and I were heading towards the crystal staircase, Jim filled me in on what I had missed. Apparently, Chompsky had returned, but had come with message from Gunmar and how Jim could use Angor's eye as way to deflect the enchantment, so that he would be in full control of Daylight. He also informed me that he now had the last Triumbric Stone. Gunmar's eye. I was definitely overwhelmed by this information and I was about to tell him my own discovery of the Thriskule, but we had reached our destination. Guess that it will be a surprise to everyone.

The ground had started to shake and we realized that he was trying to break in. I stood beside Draal and we both gave each other a small smile in greeting before focusing on the situation once again. While we were witnessing this, Toby questioned, "Is he knocking? Is that some sort of troll war etiquette?"

"I believe that he's attempting to intimidate us." Blinky suggested.

"He's expecting us to hide. I say we take the fight to him. Draal, Monica, hold the stairs. Blink, Claire, Tobes, protect Troll market. Aaarrrgghh, Not Enrique, come with me." Jim ordered.

"I'm rather comfy where I am." Not Enrique said, but Draal forced him to go with the others by pushing him with his ax. Not Enrique followed them and called back, "Ya, brute!"

I chuckled before taking Draal's hand asking, "Together?"

Draal held a firm grip on my hand and stated, "Together." He embraced me and I embraced him before we turned our attention back to the battle that was about to ensue.

We heard Aaarrrgghh yelling, then they came running back down.

"What happened? Where's Angor Rot?" Claire questioned.

"There he is! Let's do this boys!" One of the trolls exclaimed. The three charged Angor Rot, but Angor Rot easily defeated them and the last remaining troll ran away in fear. Angor Rot turned his attention towards Blinky and Toby, but Jim shouted, "Angor!"

"Trollhunter, I have some friends I'd like you to meet." Angor Rot said. The ground rumbled and there were a lot more animus totems that sprung forward. If there was any time to reveal what I've discovered, now was the time.

I stepped forwards and shouted, "Hey, Angor Rot! I have something new that I'd like to show you."

I took a deep breath and proclaimed, "For the glory of both Merlin and Morgana, the power to wield the Thriskule, to turn the tides of battle is mine to command!" A green light surrounded me and I was lifted into the air. When I landed, my red hair flowed past my shoulders and I was encased in an armor similar to Jim's except it was green lined with gold designs. I felt the wisdom of the Thriskule's past battles flow through me and I knew that the Thriskule and I were one. I notched an arrow to the Thriskule and my blue eyes glared at Angor Rot as I announced,

"Time for some payback."

 **A/N: Thank you all for being patient with this chapter. It has just been a crazy week. I appreciate all of you who have read this story and commented on it! You guys are great!**


	46. Something Rotten Comes this Way Part II

Angor Rot and the others stared at me in shock, then the trolls began cheering. Some of the animus totems came charging towards us, but Draal and Claire blocked them from reaching Jim and I. Claire stated, "You two handle Angor. We got this." Jim and I looked at one another and gave each other a curt nod before charging down to face Angor Rot. Another animus totem tried to charge him and Jim blocked it with his shield. I pushed Jim out of the way as Aaarrrgghh charged through and took out the animus totem.

"When will you learn that Daylight is mine to command?" Angor Rot questioned. Angor used his enchantment on Jim and Daylight flew to Angor's hand. Then, Jim's armor glowed and Daylight went back to it's Trollhunter.

"And when will you learn that Daylight is the Trollhunter's weapon? Not yours." I stated. I charged at Angor while he was in shock. The bow transformed into daggers and I sliced Angor Rot's right hip like he did mine. Angor screamed in pain and fell to his knees.

"Guess I should thank-you for giving me the stink eye." Jim said.

"My eye!" Angor Rot exclaimed. Angor Rot attempted to attack me, but I quick got out of the way as Jim charged Angor Rot. Angor Rot blocked Jim's attack and Jim back flipped out of the way before Angor Rot could strike him. I managed to grab Angor Rot and I threw him towards one of the shops. Angor Rot crashed against the wall. When he got up, he clutched his shoulder and I was rather satisfied that I was able to repay him for the damage that he caused me.

"You destroyed my soul, Trollhunter. Now I will harvest yours as I kill your sister." Angor Rot threatened as Jim and him locked weapons.

I knocked him aside with my bow and I retorted, "You know, you're threatening quite a bit, but you're not falling through with any of those threats." Angor Rot growled and charged me. Jim stood in front of me, but I pushed him behind me as I quickly blocked Angor's strike.

Man, having unlocked this power to turn the tides of battle is making this so much easier. I felt like I could do anything. Suddenly, Angor Rot grabbed my arm and threw me against a boulder. I cried out in pain and my armor disappeared. I cursed myself as I realized my mistake. I had forgotten rule number 1: Always be afraid. I had gotten too arrogant there and Angor Rot had used that to his advantage. I attempted to stand but gasped in pain. I felt so sore and I was weary. I didn't know what was wrong. I felt fine not even five seconds to go. I have taken hits much worse than that.

Angor Rot strolled towards me and said, "Your arrogance has cost you now, Wielder, and, now, the Trollhunter will watch you die." Then, Jim got in front of me and blocked Angor Rot's strike. I heard a horn honking and turned to see Blinky saying, "Oh! I enjoy this horn!"

"It's not "hunter", Angor. It's "hunters"!" Jim exclaimed. Before Blinky crashed into Angor Rot, Jim grabbed me and got out of the way.

"I drove! Did you see? I drove a human automobile! What a thrill!" Blinky exclaimed. Jim chuckled and turned to me asking, "Are you alright?"

"I will be in few moments." I told Jim. Jim looked worried, but his attention was drawn back to Angor Rot as we heard Blinky cry out. He exclaimed, "Blinky!" Angor Rot lifted mom's car and threw it against the stairway. Blinky looked a bit frazzled, but seemed okay.

"You thought that I could be defeated that easily? That your human contraption could kill me!" Angor exclaimed. I struggled to stand up and saw that the battle was not going in our favor like it was before. I need to summon the the power once more. I attempted to do so once more, but nothing happened. What was wrong? Draal came and helped me up.

"Draal, what's happening? Why is my strength depleted and why can't I summon the power to turn the tides of battle once more?" I questioned.

"That is price to summoning the power to wield the Thriskule. It can only be used once each battle. The more experience you have the longer duration of this power will last. The reason why your strength has depleted is because when your armor disappears, which is the source of the power to turn the tides of battle, you will feel the actions of the people that you've helped aide including your own battle, come upon you. I will explain it more later." Draal promised as he destroyed an animus totem.

I felt some of my strength returning and dodged an animus totem that attempted to strike. The bow transformed into daggers and I threw them towards the animus totem which destroyed it. My power to turn the tides of battle might me gone, but I am still the Wielder of the Thriskule. I grabbed the totem and broke it in half so that it wouldn't reform.

"Aaarrrgghh! We require your strength!" Blinky exclaimed. Draal and I fought side by side watching each other's backs.

"Toby!" Jim exclaimed. My attention was drawn towards Toby. Angor Rot had turned his attention towards him and was going to kill him. No. Angor Rot threw the Creeper's Sun dagger towards Toby.

"Toby, look out!" I shouted. Toby was like a little brother to me. I couldn't lose him. I charged towards him as fast as I could, but I wasn't going to reach him in time. Suddenly, Aaarrrgghh jumped in front of him and the dagger struck him in the heart.

"No!" Toby exclaimed. He ran towards him and I struck down the animus totems that threatened to hurt Toby as he ran towards Aaarrrgghh's side. I couldn't hear what the two were saying in Aaarrrgghh's last moments, but I knew that it wasn't my business. I turned around and saw that Aaarrrgghh was transformed into stone. No, not Aaarrrgghh. Then, Toby turned towards Angor Rot and screamed, "I'm going to kill you!"

He kept attempting to strike Angor Rot, but Angor Rot kept dodging. Angor Rot summoned a fire ball and I pushed Toby out of the way before it struck him. Then, Angor Rot was struck with Jim's thigh blade and Jim shouted, "I destroyed your soul. Your fight is with me! Not them!"

"As you wish, Trollhunter." Angor Rot said. He charged Jim and the two ran off and I realized that he was leading Angor Rot towards the Hero's Forge.

"Jim." I whispered. I helped Toby up and Toby was trying to hold back his tears as he looked towards Aaarrrgghh. I embraced him and he embraced me. I promised, "We will avenge Aaarrrgghh. I promise. Now, let's go help, Jim." Toby nodded. Toby, Draal, Blinky, Claire, and I made our towards the Hero's Forge and the entrance was blocked, but we could see what was happened.

Angor Rot had knocked Jim to the side and said, "Do you ever wonder how you've lived this long?" We shouted for Jim to let us in as Angor Rot continued, "The only reason you're alive is because you've let your loved ones fall in your place! Your teacher, the changeling! You mother! Your sister!"

"Jim!" I exclaimed.

"And now your simple friend, Aaarrrgghh is dead!" Angor Rot said.

"No!" Jim shouted. The two clashed swords and blue light flowed around them.

"Claire, you're staff!" I exclaimed. Claire realized what I was wanting her to do and she had a portal appear Angor's head and we allowed Toby to have the honor of going through it. Then, Angor said taking out the Creeper's Sun dagger, "But, where are your loved ones now, Hunter?"

"Up here, Rot Head!" Toby exclaimed. Jim pushed the dagger into Angor's heart and as Angor was turning to stone, Toby smashed Angor's statue with his hammer. Draal lifted the gate that was blocking the way to Troll market and we all ran towards Jim. Claire embraced him first, but I hugged him afterwards. Then, I hugged Toby. I was so thankful that the two were alright.

Draal held my hand and I smiled at him as Claire said, "Is he really gone?"

"He better be." Jim said.

"Yeah. He better be." Toby growled and kicked. Suddenly, a blue light appeared and they whispered, "Finally. Our souls are free. We return to our brethren." A bright blue orb appeared.

"What? Who are they?" Claire questioned.

Then, Kanjigar appeared and proclaimed, "These are the spirits of our fallen brethren. Trollhunters who lost both soul and life to Angor Rot. Our brothers and sisters shall take their proper place in the void and rest in piece. Thanks to you, James Lake Junior, you sister, and your friends. You were right. You are stronger together. We are in your debt. But, the day will come, Trollhunter, when you must finish the fight alone."

"Father?" Draal questioned reaching his hand out to him.

"My son, I am so sorry for pushing you away. I am so proud of you." Kanjigar said.

"Father. Father. Father!" Draal exclaimed as his father disappeared. I placed my hand on his shoulder letting him know that I was here for him. We were about to make our way back towards Aaarrrgghh when I noticed that Draal wasn't coming. As the others went towards there, I stayed behind and asked, "Are you coming, Draal?"

"I will in a moment, Monica. I just need a moment." Draal said. I took Draal's hand in my own and placed a kiss on his cheek. Draal gave me a grateful smile and I said, "Come join us when you're ready. Remember that you're not alone and I'm here whenever you need me." Draal embraced me and I embraced him. Our foreheads pressed together and I knew that this was sign of affection in the troll custom. We stood there for a few moments taking in each other's scent, then we let go.

"I will join you soon, my love." Draal said. I smiled knowing that he'll be alright, then went to go join the others.

Claire, Toby, Jim, and I stood around Aaarrrgghh's statue. It was hard to believe that he was gone. He has been through so much with us. He will live on in our hearts forever. Toby shed tears and Claire and I placed our hands on his shoulders as Claire said, "Toby, hold onto that anger. Save it for the Darklands." Then, I heard footsteps walking away and I turned to see that Jim had gone.

"Jim." I said. I decided to let him be. Thinking that he maybe needed a moment alone as well. Claire, Toby, and I went to grab Blinky and I noticed that Jim was going towards Killahead Bridge. The four of us headed over towards Killahead and Blinky shouted, "Master Jim!"

"Dude, what are you doing?" Toby questioned and Jim closed the doorway.

"Jim, don't!" Claire exclaimed. The gate closed as we reached it and Claire exclaimed, "Jim, no! You promised we'd go together!"

"The amulet chose me. I can't lose anymore of you." Jim said.

"Jim, you don't have to do this alone! Please!" I cried pounding on the door.

"Maybe I can manually override the lock." Blinky suggested. He started doing just that and I heard some noise in there and figured that he had probably reformed the Bridge. No. No.

"Come on, Jimbo! We're a team! Don't do this!" Toby exclaimed.

"Jim, no! I promised that I would always be there for you when you needed me! Don't, Jim! Don't do this alone! I'm begging you! Please!" I sobbed.

"I'm sorry. I have to finish the fight. Alone. But, the amulet chose me." Jim said. Blinky managed to get the door opened and we ran towards them. I dashed towards my baby brother with tears running down my face shouting, "Jim!"

Jim looked towards us and said, "I'm sorry." He jumped through the portal as Claire shouted, "No, Jim!" The portal closed and I collapsed to the ground in shock. No. This can't be happening. This can't be happening.

"No!" I cried feeling my heart shatter.

"Jim!" Toby yelled.

Then, Blinky said, "Master Jim, what have you done?"

My baby brother was in the Darklands. Alone. I failed him when he needed me. Now, he's gone.


	47. Escape From the Darklands Part I

My phone buzzed and I jerked awake. I looked at the text and saw that it was from Toby. I heard a low grumble and someone wrapped their arms around me. I looked and saw that it was Draal and I gave a small smile before gently untangling myself from him. All around us were my papers that I had been grading for school and lessons plans. Draal thinks that I've been working myself too hard. Last night, he tried to help me by organizing my papers, which honestly isn't his strong suit, but I very much appreciated the effort that he put into it. We must've stayed up so late that we fell asleep next to one another. Maybe he's right because this was the sixth time in the past two weeks that I've practically stayed up all night.

I struggled to entangle myself, but the effort just ended up just waking up Draal. Draal groaned and said, "Is it morning already?"

"Yeah. I've got to get ready. Toby wants me to meet him in Troll market with Claire and Blinky." I said.

"I'll come with you." Draal said. I nodded. I went upstairs and got ready then came back down. Draal and I walked over towards Troll market. It's been two weeks since Jim entered the Darklands alone. Why did he have to go alone? Ever since he left, Claire, Toby, and I have been trying to cover for his disappearance. Toby has been covering for him at home, Claire has been covering his duties at Troll market, and I've been handling his homework assignments since I knew how to copy his handwriting the best.

Apart from that, I've been working more hours for my job, training more with Draal, and with whatever spare time I've got left, I usually go to Blinky's library and help him to try and come up with a plan to save Jim. Because of this, I haven't seen Claire and Toby much nor have I spoken much with Elizabeth and Patrick. Mom is trying to encourage me to take a break, but I couldn't. There's just so much that I need to do. I may have failed Jim when Jim went into the Darklands alone, but I'm not going to fail him to get him out of there.

Apparently, I have the ability to turn the tides of battle, but I can only do it once until my armor is gone. I can't summon it again until the next battle. Draal has been telling me to only use this power during the bigger wars that way I don't exhaust myself. The smaller tasks will help me prepare and will let me be able to hold the armor longer during major battles. Also, he has been teaching me that Wielder has two choices during a battle: I can help aid the battle of others or I can aid my own battle. The reason why I was able to do both during the battle with Angor Rot was due to it being my first time. That was why it was so overwhelming when my armor disappeared.

I know that Draal has been worried about me since Jim had disappeared. He's been sticking to my side and I knew that it was because he wanted to let me know that I wasn't alone and he was there when I needed to talk. I don't know how I could've done this without Draal because when I lost hope, he reminded me that the amulet had yet to choose another and that Jim was still alive.

Draal and I parted ways when we got to Troll market. Draal had matters to attend to and I was going to meet up with the others. Once I reached Blinky's library, I heard Toby shout, "Hey! What the heck? Who turned my war hammer into a back scratchier?"

"After witnessing you troubles handling it, I sought to stabilize it's unpredictability and make it, as you say..." Blinky clicked a button and the war hammer appear and Blinky finished, "Fun size."

"Whaaaat? Pocket hammer. Fun-size. Awesome-size! Fun-size. Awesome-size! Fun-size. Awesome size!" Toby exclaimed while turning the war hammer into the pocket size and having it reappear.

I chuckled and said, "I'm glad to see your having fun."

"Monica!" Claire exclaimed. She ran over towards me and gave me hug along with the others.

"It's so good to see you guys. It's been too long." I said. Before we had time to say more, a horn blew in the distance.

What was going on?


	48. Escape From the Darklands Part II

All of us made our way towards the crowds that have gathered and we pushed our way through to see what was going on. It was the Tribunal. What were they doing here? Toby exclaimed, "Whoa! All the troll heavyweights are here. Hey! Wise Wumpa lady!" Our wumpa friend looked over at us, but ignored us. That was strange.

"Who summoned the Tribunal, Vendel?" Blinky questioned.

"The Tribunal summoned themselves. Word of the Trollhunter's stupidity to enter the Darklands has spread like the plague. And now, they're calling for the destruction of Killahead Bridge." Vendel said. No, they couldn't do that.

Claire ran in front of Vendel and said, "But, if they destroy the Bridge, Jim won't be able to get out."

"I'm well aware of that, and I'm trying to prevent it. Let's go, Blinkous." Vendel said.

"They can't do this. That's my brother in there!" I shouted towards them, but they ignored it.

"We must keep searching. Master Jim's time is running out." Blinky said. He signaled for us to go under and I told Claire and Toby to go eavesdrop on their council meeting while I tried to find a last minute attempt to see if we could find a way to free Jim that could convince the council to stop what they were doing. I poured through the books in Blinky's library as quickly as I could, but I couldn't find anything. Come on, Monica. Jim is counting on you. Not even fifteen minutes later, I got a text from Toby that they were going to destroy the Bridge.

No, this can't be happening. I dashed out of the library and met up with the others who were on their way to Killahead Bridge. Toby asked, "Monica, did you find anything?" I shook my head and we made it to the gate of the Bridge only to be stopped by Draal who said, "Whoa, there. I'm afraid the vault is off-limits until the Tribunal ends."

"Draal, the Tribunal's going to tear down the bridge with my brother in it!" I exclaimed.

"Bushigal! They can't do that!" Draal exclaimed. He opened the vault that had Killahead inside. He drew out his ax and stated, "They're not going to get through us." Draal, Claire, and I got inside the vault while Blinky helped Toby.

"Break the controls!" Blinky shouted.

"You know, if only I had a portable war hammer. Oh wait. I do! Let's rock this joint!" Toby announced. He activated his war hammer, slid down the stairs, and smashed the controls to the vault.

"Way to go, Toby!" I cheered. Draal fist-bumped him and Toby questioned, "So, now what?"

"We hold them back as long as we can." Claire said.

"For Jimbo." Toby stated.

"Always had a thing against authority." Draal said.

I summoned the Thriskule and notched an arrow to the bow saying, "We will not let them take my brother away from us."

"Let us hope Master Jim is near." Blinky said. The gateway was opened and we prepared ourselves. As the Krubera guards came through, Draal charged them, but the Krubera knocked him down. As Claire charged them next, I shouted, "For the glory of both Merlin and Morgana, the power to wield the Thriskule, to turn the tides of battle-" I was cut off when one of the Krubera grabbed me. His grip tightened and my ribs felt like they were being crushed.

"Let me go!" I yelled. The Krubera released his grip as he was knocked to the side by Draal.

"Don't you touch her." Draal growled and he kept the Krubera at bay. I regained my breath and I looked to see the Bridge glowing again. He's coming back! There's a chance.

"The amulet!" Toby shouted.

"Look, he's coming through He's coming through!" I yelled.

"It's Gunmar! Tear it down. Now!" Usurna ordered.

"It's not Gunmar, you fools! It's my brother!" I proclaimed.

"No! Wait! We're here! We're right here!" I heard Jim yell. I heard a baby crying and I realized that it must be Claire's baby brother. No. They couldn't trap them there. I ran towards the Bridge yelling, "Jim! Jim!"

"Monica!" I heard him shout.

"Stop her! Gunmar cannot obtain both the Wielder and the Trollhunter or all hope is truly lost!" Usurna shouted. I was grabbed by two Krubera and they took away the Thriskule. I shouted, "JIM!" I struggled against the Krubera with all my might, but their grip on me remained firm and the rest of the Krubera guard continued to destroy the Bridge.

Claire managed to get past the Krubera guarding her and shouted, "Enrique! Stop! That's my brother! Let him through! No, no, no, no!" The Krubera was about to attack her, but was stopped by Draal. I continued struggling against the Krubera that were holding me back. He was so close. My brother was so close. They can't destroy the Bridge. Claire looked through the portal and shouted, "Stop! Please! He's coming through! You'll hurt him! It's Jim and Enrique! Jim!"

"Claire!" I heard Jim yell.

"Jim!" Claire yelled.

"A little more! Just a little more!" I heard Jim shout, but the Krubera kept knocking the Bridge down.

"No!" Claire yelled.

They will not hurt my brother! I summoned the Thriskule out of the Krubera's hands and it reappeared in my own. I managed get out of one of the Krubera's grip and knocked the other one aside. I charged towards the portal ready to get my brother out of there, but the Krubera struck the final blow and the Bridge collapsed.

"NOOO!" I screamed. I shielded my eyes from the dust and when the dust cleared, I saw Claire with her baby brother, but where was mine? With tears streaming down my face, I cried out, "Jim! No! Jim!" I dug through the rubble and I found his amulet. I clutched it against my heart and whispered, "Jim." I began weeping, which turned into gut wrenching sobs.

"You killed him! You killed him!" Toby screamed from behind me. I didn't turn around to see what was going on. I didn't care. All I could think about was how he was so close yet so far. I felt numb. I couldn't believe it. I failed him again. I felt arms wrap around me, but I couldn't feel their warmth. I couldn't feel anything until I felt another hand on my shoulder and I turned to see Draal. He looked at me with worry. Feeling came back and I realized that Claire and Toby had enveloped me in a hug. While Blinky and Draal had their hands on each side of my shoulder. How long had I been there crying? Because Usurna, Vendel, and Usurna's guards had left.

I am not the only one here who has suffered a loss. I am not alone. I stifled my sobs into soft cries and I placed one hand on Claire's arm and the other and Toby's and I whispered, "Thank-you."

"Let's go someplace help." Blinky said. Shakily, I stood up. Draal wrapped his arms around and we went together to Blinky's library. Once we got there, we sat in silence for a while.

"He was right there." Toby said.

"Jim... he got you back. He kept his promise." Claire told her brother.

"This is my fault. I could've done more." Blinky said placing his hand on Aaarrrgghh's statue.

I slammed my fist that had the amulet in it onto the table and declared, "No. The time for grief is over. There has to be a way to get Jim out of that horrid place! That place will not be his tomb. I will not give up on my brother! I refuse too! He would never give up on any one of us. We cannot give up on him!"

"Monica's right. We can do more. There has to be a way. There has to be something we haven't thought of. Claire, you said it yourself. As long as the amulet doesn't call to anybody else, we know he's okay." Toby said. The amulet started to glow. No. Don't let it be a calling to another Trollhunter. Don't let it be that. I felt someone's hand on my shoulder and turned to see Draal. I gripped his hand. A blue light flashed out of the amulet and the amulet lifted into the air.

" _James... Lake..."_ It said.

"It's calling." Claire said. The amulet hooked onto Aaarrrgghh's statue and kept saying something in trollish over and over again. We all gathered around Aaarrrgghh's statue.

"I don't understand. It's not making any sense. " Blinky said. We asked him what it meant and Blinky said, "The troll is the key, the key to the hunter. The troll is the key, the key to the hunter. Over and over. It must be a glitch." We were curious if it was broken.

"No, this is something else. I think that it's trying to tell us something." Draal said while observing it.

"They're helping us!" Toby exclaimed. We asked who and Toby explained, "The voices in the amulet, the ghost council."

"You mean the Master Trollhunters." Draal corrected.

"That's what I said, right?." Toby retorted.

"What are they trying to say?" Claire questioned.

"The troll is the key, the... Aaarrrgghh is the key! But, that's impossible. He's-" Blinky was cut off by Toby who embraced Blinky and saying, "Gonna get us Jim back! Did you hear that Claire, Monica, and Draal! If we save Aaarrrgghh, we save Jim!"

"I don't believe it!" Claire exclaimed. Blinky, Toby, Draal, and I cheered. Toby and Blinky fist bumped each other and I embraced Draal and he embraced me. Then, Blinky declared,

"Now that is some glitch!"


	49. Skullcrusher

Claire and I traveled to to the council meeting to see what was going to come of the Bridge by using her staff. We heard Usurna speaking, "The Trollhunter has gone too far." We sneaked over to get a better look and hid behind a wall of a hallway that led into a chamber room of the Heartstone where the meeting was being held. The queen continued, "The denizens of Troll market will not be safe until Killahead Bridge is destroyed once and for all."

"You know as well as I, Usurna, the pieces cannot be destroyed." Vendel said.

"No, but they can be thrown into a hole so deep that no living thing can hope to find them." The queen said.

"And I suppose you know of a such a place. I cannot agree to this! You are signing the boy's death warrant! Also, what about his sister? What do you plan on telling her when all this done?" Vendel proclaimed.

"He signed it himself the moment he crossed into the Darklands. The edict has already been made. As for his sister, the Wielder will have to come to terms with this. Her training will have to increase. She will be the last line of defense. Killahead Bridge will never be found again." Usurna stated. Claire and I gasped, then used her staff to get out of there. We traveled out of Troll market and when we were under the bridge under the night sky, Claire questioned,

"Monica, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know, Claire." I said. If we didn't get the Bridge, then we couldn't save my brother.

She rubbed her eyes and I could tell that she was as exhausted as I was. I sighed and stated, "Well, we aren't going to be of much use to Jim if we can't even keep our eyes open. We'll figure this out tomorrow. Go. Spend time with your family. We'll figure this out. I promise." Claire nodded and we both went our separate ways. Tomorrow was going to be a long day due to having a teacher's meeting. Once I got home, I went to the basement and told Draal that I was turning in. He didn't get the phrase turning in at first, but once I explained, he told me goodnight.

When I went into my room, I flipped through an old scrapbook and saw a picture of me holding Jim when he first came back from the hospital. I miss you, little bro. Soon, I fell asleep.

 _"I've got you now!" My mother exclaimed. My five year old self shrieked and giggled as my mother grabbed me and carried me over to the table. I squirmed in my seat getting impatient for having to wait. My father laughed as he set down the food and said, "Now, Monica, we have some exciting news for you and we'll only tell you if you stop squirming." I immediately stopped squirming and I paid attention to my parents. My mother announced, "You're going to be..." She looked at my father for him to finish the sentence and he did, "An older sister!"..._

I felt someone shaking me awake and I woke up to see that it was Claire. What time was it? I rubbed my eyes and asked, "Claire, what are you doing?" I looked at the time and saw that it was 5 am. I have the teacher's meeting in 2 hours.

"Sorry, Monica, but I couldn't wait till school to tell you. Toby is already in Troll market, but I wanted to tell you before I told the others." Claire said.

"Tell me what?" I wondered.

"I had Not Enrique stow away in one of the boxes of Killahead Bridge. That way, I have an emotional anchor to where the Tribunal sends the Bridge that way-" I interrupted Claire by exclaiming, "That way we can steal the Bridge! Claire, that's brilliant!" Claire looked down for a moment and I placed a hand on her shoulder and asked, "Is there another reason you're here?"

"Yeah. I've noticed... well, we all noticed how you've been acting lately. You've haven't been yourself. If there is anything that you want to talk about, well, I'm here. We're all here." Claire said. I sat up against the wall and folded my arms around my knees. I guess I haven't been myself. So much has happened, I wasn't sure where to begin. I looked at Claire who waited for my answer. Then, I took a deep breath and said,

"I miss him, Claire. I miss my brother. I'm worried about him."

"We're all worried-" I interrupted Claire and said, "I know you all are, but this isn't just a friend that we're talking about. This is my little brother. It's my job as an older sister to protect him and I failed him... twice! It makes me sick thinking about what Gunmar could be doing to him right now. I am so worried that I've barely been eating and I've haven't gotten much rest. I've been trying so hard to distract myself. It's why I've been overworking myself at my job, training more with Draal, and with whatever spare time that I've got left, I help Blinky do some research in his library."

"Hey. I understand your worry. I really do. When Enrique was in the Darklands, it was the hardest time in my life and it was even harder having to see a fake version of him with Not Enrique. But, I had to believe that we would rescue my brother and Jim did. Now, we have to believe the same for Jim. It's not a matter of if we save Jim, we will save Jim." Claire proclaimed.

I hugged her and said, "I'm sorry for being so distracted and thank you. My brother is very lucky to have you."

"And he's lucky to have you too. You're a great older sister, Monica, and you've been an awesome English teacher too." Claire said and hugged me. I hugged her and gave a slight chuckle, "You know, the two of us need a girl's night out sometime. What do you say to having a karaoke night? I usually do them when I have the whole house to myself because they can get pretty wild."

"That would awesome!" Claire stated.

Soon, she left for Troll market and I got ready for the teacher's meeting that was now in an hour. When the time came to leave, I drove over to the school. Yeah. I had to come up with a very elaborate lie that my brother was sick with this rare disease to excuse his late absences over the past two weeks. Surprisingly, they bought the lie and they even had a bake sale that ended up being a huge success. They gave me the money to help with the hospital bills to which I used to repair the house, which was difficult to do without Mom noticing. Everyday, the teachers would ask me how my brother was doing and I would always tell them that he was still fighting, which, in a way, he is.

Pretty soon, school started. Senor Uhl gave an announcement, " _Attention students and faculty. The "Save Jim" Bake sale was a massive success. Together, we will find a cure for this rare and sudden disease. That is all. Thank you."_ I sat in my chair knowing that my first class doesn't start till around second period. When the first bell rung and the students came filing in, I surprisingly got a lot of letters from Jim's classmates that were get well cards for Jim and a couple hugs saying that they hope that my mother and I were doing well.

Claire and Toby came in last and I wondered about Claire's plan. What if it didn't work and the Bridge was lost forever? No, I couldn't think like that. It's like Claire said, I can't focus on the what ifs. We will get the Bridge and we will get my brother back. I took a deep breath. I have to push this out of my mind for now. I began my lesson by saying, "Class, today we're going to learning-" I was interrupted by a hand being raised in the air and it was Darcy who raised it.

"Yes, Miss Scott?" I questioned.

"I was just wondering how Jim was doing. The teacher's haven't given us much information on his recovery process." Darcy said.

A couple students agreed with her. I knew it was only going to be a matter of time. Claire and Toby looked a bit nervous and I answered, "Jim is responding well for the moment with some of the treatments that he's been given. With any luck, he'll be back in school very soon. While the disease that Jim has is rare, my little brother is a fighter. He is grateful for the support that you've all given him. My whole family is. I appreciate your concern, Miss Scott. I really do." I continued on with the lecture and I decided to not give them homework for the day to give them a break. Soon, the bell rang and Claire and Toby came up to me after all students had left.

"Good job, Monica. I know that this must be hard. As soon as Not Enrique texts Claire, we'll contact you." Toby said.

"We'll see you soon." Claire said.

The two went off to their next class. I had the next period to myself, but that was interrupted when Claire called and said that Not Enrique had contacted her. I told her that I would meet up with her and Toby outside school. I informed the other teachers that there was an emergency with Jim at the hospital and they let me leave. Once I met up with the Claire and Toby, Claire told me that she and Toby were heading for the woods. Luckily, I had taken my bike with me and the three of us headed into the woods.

Over the past couple weeks, we've been using the Fletcher, which was a small portal that led into the Darklands. Chompsky had used it to locate Claire's brother and had used it to get back. Now, we were using it to try and locate Jim. We've been putting a message of: KIC, which was supposed to be a code for Keep it Crispy. To let my brother know that we haven't given up on him.

"Still no sign of Jim?" Claire questioned.

"Nothing but barren Darklands. And I'm running out of Nugget Nummies." Toby said.

"You think this is secluded enough?" Claire questioned.

"For a magic Bridge? This far out we could hide a few dead bodies." I chuckled nervously. I bumped into someone and the two of us shrieked and I saw that it was Toby.

"Alright. Let's make this quick. Making portals is exhausting and I don't know how many I've got in me." Claire stated. She made a portal and Toby and I complimented her by saying that she was turning pro with that thing to which Claire responded, "Well, it's powered by emotions. Getting the guy I like out of the Darklands? Plenty of emotion." Toby and I were about to go through, but we were stopped by Claire who asked, "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" I asked and Toby finished for me, "We're helping you."

"I have no idea where we are. I need one of you to stay back to be my emotional anchor." Claire said.

Toby and I looked at each other and I suggested, "Rock, paper, scissors? Two out of three?" Toby agreed and I ended up winning. When we had finished, Toby turned to Claire and asked, "Okay, so Monica won, what I am supposed to do here?"

To this, Claire answered, "Get ready to catch. Come on, Monica." The two of us ran through the portal. We bumped into a box and we looked around to see that we were in a steel industrial shipping crate. Where are we? We heard something opening and Claire and I turned our flashlights to a box that was opening and out popped Not Enrique who exclaimed, "Took you long enough!"

"What are you doing in there?" I questioned.

"I-uh. Suzy's a little scared of the dark. And, with all the freaky noises, this place is giving her the heebie-jeebies." Not Enrique said.

Claire and I chuckled and Claire said, "Alright come on. Where are we?" We began pushing the boxes and Not Enrique helped us and explained, "All I could make out was someone saying"starboard" or "captain". We could be on a spaceship for all I know." Starboard... captain... oh please don't let this be on the ocean. We heard some noise outside and someone was speaking, "Yeah, yeah, the paperwork says to dump it here."

"Dump it?" Claire questioned. Suddenly, the crate shifted and we fell to the floor and I shouted, "We're on a cargo ship!"

"They're dumping us into the ocean!" Claire exclaimed. Oh no. This was seriously not good.

"The ocean, but-I-uh... But Suzy can't swim!" Not Enrique yelled. I wasn't going to tell them this, but I couldn't swim either. Whenever Mom and Dad took me to swim lessons with the other kids, I would always run off and come back when they were getting over and rinse my hair in the sink so that Mom and Dad wouldn't get suspicious. I just don't like the water and whenever Mom and Dad would take Jim and I to the ocean, I would fake being sick with a stomach ache and get out of it.

The crate kept jerking around and we kept tumbling around inside the crate. The crate began falling and we were lifted into the air and the three of us screamed as we plummeted into the ocean. We slammed into the floor once the crate hit the water and the portal closed. Great. This is great.

"You never said nothing about no water! I knew this idea was lousy!" Not Enrique exclaimed. I could feel myself panicking, but kept thinking to myself that this was for Jim. If we didn't get these boxes out of here, Jim would be lost forever.

"Just stick to the plan and let's get out of here before it's too late." Claire said. Claire and Not Enrique lifted a box and threw it into a newly created portal and I threw another box after them. The crate began to creek and I said, "The metal can't hold for long. The water's going to pour in at any minute! Hurry!"

We lifted the boxes and threw them into the portal at a quick pace. After a while, I noticed that Claire was growing tired and I was growing worried about her. After the next one we threw in, Claire huffing. The metal walls of the crate creaked and more water started pouring in. The portal closed and Not Enrique shouted, "Oh no! The portal!"

"I can't. It won't work. I got nothing left." Claire said. What should we do? What should we do?

"Right. I knew that you'd get us killed!" Not Enrique exclaimed. Of course! Get Claire angry!

"What?" Claire questioned.

"You wanna know the truth. Fine. About to die anyway. I decided to stick around 'cause you're a pushover. I can do whatever I want and you're too weak to stop me!" Not Enrique stated.

"Excuse me? How dare you!" Claire proclaimed outraged. Not Enrique continued, "I use your toothbrush to clean me ears. I steal cash from your purse. And you know you're lucky Papa Skull's jacket? I like to call it my snot rag! Hilarious!"

"Ugh! Why you... you baby genius!" Claire exclaimed realizing what he was trying to do.

"Yeah. I know. Now, come on! We've got just a few more!" Not Enrique shouted.

"Wait a minute. You didn't really do all that stuff , right?" Claire asked as we continued to lift the boxes and through them into the portal. To this, Not Enrique said, "Uh, don't use your toothbrush." The metal started to collapse more and more water flowed through. The portal had disappeared again. Oh no. Not good. I shrieked and climbed up on a tall box along Claire and Not Enrique who were surprised by outburst. Claire asked, "Monica, what's wrong?"

"Is it bad time to say that I also don't know how to swim?" I questioned.

"What?" Claire yelled.

"I didn't want to worry you guys before." I said.

"Okay. That's it! We're never going to get them all! Time to bail out of this death trap!" Not Enrique exclaimed.

"No!" Claire and I yelled and I continued, "I am scared of water just like you, but I will not leave. If we lose this Bridge, we lose Jim. We need this last crate." Not Enrique calmed down after that.

"Come on, just power up that staff and make a portal under the crate, or we are doomed! Do it! Do it! Do it now!" Not Enrique proclaimed. Like he needed to tell us twice. Claire was still struggling and I said, "Come on, Claire. Last piece."

"Oh, I can't! I'm exhausted!" Claire declared. We kept trying to encourage her, but she kept insisting that it wasn't charging. She kept trying, but she still couldn't get it to work. Then, Not Enrique said, "Come on, Big Eyes! Dig deep. Maybe anger isn't your thing. Maybe you've gotta find somethin' stronger inside."

"He's right, Claire. You have to connect with the staff on a deeper level other than anger." I said.

"I can do this!" Claire stated. We told that she could and she continued, "I can do this. I can do this."

"So, do it already!" I exclaimed. We dove back down into the water and watched as Claire was attempting to create the portal with another emotion. My vision started to blur and I looked up to see that the crate was filled with water. I wasn't going to see Jim again, was I? I looked at Claire who was growing blurrier by the moment and she looked at me with panic in her eyes and she looked beside me with the same expression. Was something wrong with Not Enrique? Then, I lost consciousness...

 _I could see a light and I heard a familiar laugh. Jim? The laughter continued and I kept looking around for the source, then I heard someone calling my name..._

"Monica, please wake up! I already lost Jim and Aaarrrgghh. I'm not going to lose you too!" I heard Toby yell. I started coughing up water and Toby declared, "Oh. It worked! Not Enrique and you are going to be alright. Thank you, Ms. Janeth!"

"We told you. We can't swim." Not Enrique said as Claire hugged the two of us.

We all chuckled and Toby proclaimed, "Claire! You got all the pieces! We did it! We stole an entire freaking Bridge!"

"Yeah. Don't let Jim ever say we never did anything for him." Claire stated.

"Thank you. You did good back there, Claire." I said.

"Thank you also, kid. What emotion did you use to get us out of that tin can?" Not Enrique wondered.

"Fear. I was afraid... I lost the both of you. Even though I have the real Enrique back, you're still my brother, Not Enrique, and Monica, you're more than a teacher to me. You're my friend." Claire stated. I smiled, then we heard some sort of mumble about being king of the ocean and turned to find Steve. Claire wondered, "What are we going to do about him?"

Toby explained what happened about Steve finding us and not believing the lie about Jim. Toby posed as Jim with the mask and Steve had Toby who was posed as Jim say that Steve was king of the ocean. I grabbed Steve's phone and managed to get into it. We filmed Toby who wore the Spring Fling crown and said, "Yeah! Who's the king now? Boom! Ha-ha!" Then, we went into town and left him on a park bench for the police to find him.

When Toby left, I grabbed Claire and hugged her saying, "Thank you again, Claire."

"You would do the same for me, Monica." Claire said.

"Come on! Let's not get sentimental now! Let's go!" Not Enrique exclaimed.

We both laughed and we went our separate ways. When I got home, Draal was super confused as too why I was soaked and wondered what happened. To this, I chuckled and responded, "I'll tell you tomorrow." I kissed his cheek and told him goodnight. I went upstairs and collapsed onto my bed. Not caring that I was soaked I was. I quickly fell asleep and I had the best sleep that I gotten in weeks.

 **A/N: Hi, guys! I just wanted to let you know that for these next few chapters, I'm going to have Monica bond more with Claire, Toby, and Blinky since these guys haven't had much one-on-one interaction.**


	50. Karaoke Gone Wild

"You and Claire are doing what?" Toby questioned. He had the glamour mask on and was pretending to be Jim. Mom was chuckling in the kitchen at his display. I laughed and answered, "Claire and I are having a girl's night at her house. I'll actually be heading there in about twenty minutes. Since the two of you have been getting very close and I have no doubt you'll be official soon, I decided that it's time for the two of us to get to know each other." "That sounds fun, Monica. I hope you two have a good time. I'm heading over to the cafe." Mom said. She kissed Toby and I's cheeks and left the room. When we heard Mom drive away, Toby took off the glamour mask and wondered, "Okay. So, what's actually happening here? Did you and Claire find something on the Janus Order that I told you about yesterday?" Toby informed me about if they were going to find the cure for Aaarrrgghh, we would have to go to the Janus Order, which was an organization of changlings that Blinky discovered about two days ago. "Nope. We are genuinely having a girl's night. Seriously, Claire and I have fought side by side with each other for months now and I actually still don't truly know her. This is some bonding time between us girls and it would give us a small break. Let me know if anything happens while I'm gone." I said and ruffled his hair to which he dodged quickly while saying, "You know that I hate it when you ruffle my hair, Monica." I grabbed my bag on the couch ignoring his comment and ran out the door calling back, "See you later, Tobes!" I made it to Claire's house, which was not far and rang the door bell. When the door opened it was Not Enrique who answered, "Hey, Teach! Pug Face was just telling me that you were coming. She's in the kitchen making her family's guacamole recipe." "Thanks, Not Enrique." I said and went towards the kitchen where it seemed that Claire was just finishing up. I commented, "Looks great, Claire!" "Thanks, Mo." Claire said. Then, the doorbell rang and I questioned, "Were you expecting someone else?" "No." Claire said. She went to the door and opened it. It was Darcy and Mary. They didn't seem to have noticed me yet and Mary exclaimed while throwing her arms around Claire, "Hey, C-Bomb!" "Hi, Claire! Ready for girl's night tonight?" Darcy questioned. I glanced at Claire who looked as confused as I was and Darcy frowned saying, "You forgot, didn't you. Girl, we planned this night two weeks ago because you've been hanging out with Jim and Toby so much! Tonight was supposed to be making up for it!" Claire's face deadpanned and she exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! I totally forgot. I am so sorry, girls. Hey, why don't the four us just hang out?" "The four of us?" Darcy questioned. That's when Mary spotted me and she seemed gave me a weird look while asking, "Why is our English teacher here?" "Well, because Jim and I are getting closer, Monica and I decided to hang out and get to know one another. Also, since Jim is in the hospital with that disease, I thought it would be good for the two of us to get a breather with all the overwhelming things that have been happening." Claire explained. "Is Jim doing better? Do you think that he'll be out of the hospital soon?" Darcy questioned. "His health is improving. If it keeps improving, he could be out by the end of the month." I informed her. "That's great, Ms. Lake!" Darcy proclaimed giving Claire and I a hug. Mary joined in as well. "Please, Miss Scott. We are not at school at the moment. The three of you can call me, Monica." I said. "Do you mind if they hang out with us, Monica?" Claire wondered. "No, of course not, as long as they're fine with me being here. After all, you guys planned this night before we planned our girl's night." I stated. Claire looked at Darcy and Mary. They looked a little hesitant, but I didn't blame them. It would be weird having a girl's night with your English teacher there. My best friends, Elizabeth, Patrick, and I would've had the same reaction. "We're cool that. What do you think, Mary?" Darcy asked. We all looked at Mary who just shrugged and said, "Whatever. If C-Bomb and Darcy are cool with, then so am I." The four of us decided to watch a movie as our first activity and we decided upon _Never Been Kissed_ and we all agreed that it was cute, but portrayed an inaccurate version of high schoolers, but Mary practically swooned at the ending. After the movie was over, we sat there for about five minutes, not really sure what to do... until Darcy declared, "We should do karaoke!" "Agreed. Monica told me earlier that when she has the house to herself, she really gets into it." Claire giggled. "Claire! That was a secret!" I exclaimed. Mary and Darcy laughed. "Not my fault. You should've told me that sooner." Claire retorted. "Touche. All I ask is that Jim never finds out about it." I said. The girls promised and we all had to make sure Mary promised because it was not a secret that she was the school's gossip queen. When that was all said and done, we set up the karaoke machine and began. Of course, Mary, Darcy, and Claire had me go first. By the end of it, Claire, Darcy, and Mary stared at me in shock, then Mary said, "That was the craziest karaoke I have ever seen!" "Hey. What I lack in singing department, I make up for in performance." I said taking a dramatic bow. The three girls clapped. Then, Claire proclaimed, "We should do a karaoke competition!" "Yeah! Totally! High schoolers vs. Arcadia Oaks English teacher!" Darcy declared. "That is a bit unfair, but I see where you're coming from. Do you mind if I call for some back up? My best friends, Patrick and Elizabeth, love karaoke just as much as I do. One time, the three of us were at Elizabeth's house, and we got so wild that one of Elizabeth's neighbors called the police. The police were so confused by how three high school kids could cause so much noise." I told them. The three girls' eyes widened in shock as if they were seeing me in a whole new light, then Mary said, "Oh. It's on." I quickly called Elizabeth and she said, "Hey, Mo. What's up?" "We have been challenged to karaoke." I stated. I didn't have to explain any further because Elizabeth said in a serious tone, "Patrick and I will be there in ten. We'll show those amateurs who the real karaoke champs are." She hung up the phone and I turned to the girls. I cracked my knuckles and leaned back in the chair stating, "You have no idea what has been unleashed." Before Elizabeth and Patrick arrived, Claire, Mary, and Darcy each went a turn. They got into karaoke just as much as I did. I was impressed. Elizabeth, Patrick, and I could have some serious competition. The doorbell rang and I answered it. Elizabeth gave me a bone crushing hug and Patrick patted my shoulder. He turned towards the three high schoolers and stated, "So, you're the ones who challenged us? Give us the deeds, Mo." "They have potential, but let's show them who the true masters are." I declared. "You three are going down." Claire said. "Heck ya, you are!" Darcy proclaimed. The competition began. Now, there wasn't any true judge of the competition. We were really just doing this for fun. By the end of it, we were all completely out of breath. Mary panted, "You guys definitely have more game than I thought. I never thought that our English teacher would be this cool and you guys two." Claire and Darcy both agreed. Elizabeth, Patrick, and I high-fived each other in victory. "You guys aren't bad either. Elizabeth, Monica, we shall train these three in the ways of karaoke." Patrick proclaimed while throwing his arms around the two of us. Elizabeth and I chuckled at his dramatic behavior, but agreed. "Perhaps, one day, the six of us can all do a song together for karaoke sometime." Darcy suggested. The five of us stared at Darcy, then exclaimed, "No!"

I placed my hand on her shoulder and stated, "The world's not ready for that, young padawan."


	51. Scared Witless

It was Saturday afternoon and I was nearly finished grading some papers in the basement while Draal was sharpening his ax. Then, he embedded his ax into the ground and asked, "How much longer will you be grading these papers? I feel like you grade them with every spare minute you have."

"Well, I have been grading these papers with every spare minute I have because I have been falling behind due to all this Trollhunting business and training to wield the Thriskule. I wish I didn't, but if I want to keep my job and help you guys, this is the sacrifice I must make. I'm almost done with this weeks papers. Just give me like ten minutes." I said.

"I would like to spend time with you outside of your school work, training, and your brother's Trollhunter duties. We've been courting each other for nearly three weeks now and we haven't even told the others of our relationship nor have we even been on an outing as a couple." Draal stated.

My eyes widened and I realized that he was right. We haven't told anyone that we've been dating nor have we actually been on a date. I guess that I've been busier than I thought. I held Draal's hand into my own and I said, "I'm so sorry, Draal. How about we go on our first outing tonight?"

Draal placed his hand over my own and was about to answer, but was interrupted by Toby who ran down the stairs yelling with excitement, "Mo, Mo, Mo, Mo, you're not going to believe what-" Toby stopped as he saw that Draal and I were holding hands. He pointed at our intertwined hands and exclaimed, "Are you two dating?!"

Draal looked confused, but I tightened my grip on his hand and declared, "We are, Toby." Then, Toby stood there with his mouth agape doing a very long gasp, I whispered to Draal, "Dating is basically courting." Draal nodded his head in understanding.

Then, Toby questioned, "How long has this been going on?"

"About three weeks now. What was it that you were trying to tell me?" I wondered.

That snapped Toby out of it and he exclaimed, "They just announced that _Danger House 2: More House, More Danger_ is coming out in a couple months! I haven't seen the first one because I wanted to see the first one with you since horror movies are our thing! The trailer for the second movie comes out at midnight tonight. We have to watch the first movie than we'll watch the trailer as soon as it comes out! Then, the night that _Danger House 2_ comes out, we do another marathon, so that it'll be super fresh in our minds!"

"I haven't seen the first one either! I..." I trailed off and looked at Draal. I couldn't do that to him after I just proposed of doing a date tonight. I sighed and was about to start, but Draal stopped me and said, "We can do our first date tomorrow. I can see that this is something that you two of you do on your own."

I embraced Draal and exclaimed, "Thank-you! Thank-you! You are the best boyfriend ever!"

"What is a boyfriend?" Draal questioned.

"For humans, it's what you call the male you are courting. For the female term, I am your girlfriend." I explained.

"Come on, Monica!" Toby exclaimed. He started to pull me away and I turned back to Draal and stated, "You can pick where we go tomorrow. Thank you again." We ran up the stairs. The last time we did the movie marathon it was at my house. This time it was at his. We've been doing these movie marathons for years and it has always been Toby and I's thing. Jim only joins us when it's a movie that he loves just as much as we do.

When we got outside, I turned to Toby and proclaimed, "First, we must obtain some delicacies before we begin this movie."

Toby gasped and asked, "You mean the Triple Meat and Cheese Pizza! Awesome Sauce! I haven't had that pizza in forever! Meanwhile, I will go and grab some tacos as well. Also, Nana is out playing Bingo tonight, so we've got the whole house to ourselves."

"Sweet!" I exclaimed high-fiving him. We went our separate ways and reconvened not long after.

"Are you ready, Monica?" Toby questioned.

"Heck ya, Toby!" I exclaimed. Toby put the disc into the DVD player and we began watching. As I stated before, Toby and I love horror films and I was so excited to see this movie because I heard that it got really good ratings. When I was in college, I was asked to go see it with some friends several times, but at the time I was busy working on a thesis paper, so I wasn't able to go. However, I consoled myself by knowing that the next time I was in Arcadia Oaks, it wouldn't be long before I had a horror movie marathon with TP, since it was Toby and I's thing.

As we were watching the movie, I have to say this, this is possibly the most terrifying movie that I have seen. Toby and I were practically screaming the entire time. We stopped screaming as the movie got to a calmer part, but we knew it was only a matter of time. As the main character was creeping away from the door, they knew the monster had to be somewhere in the shadows behind him.

Toby and I clutched onto each other preparing for the worst. Suddenly, the door behind us slammed opened and Toby and I screamed at the top of our lungs as we heard a battle cry and saw... Draal? What was going on?

"What are you doing here?" I questioned.

"I heard you screaming and thought you guys were in trouble. Why were you screaming when you were in no danger?" Draal questioned.

"We were watching a horror movie. Movie Marathon Night, remember?" Toby wondered.

"What is a horror movie?" Draal wondered.

I sighed and looked at Toby asked, "Shall we show him?"

Toby groaned, "Fine, but this means that we have to start at the beginning." My eyes widened in realization. We have to go through that terrifying movie again. Great. We started the horror film and he realized pretty quickly why we were screaming so loud.


	52. One Crazy Day

Draal and I were going to Troll market for our first date this afternoon. He hasn't told me anything about what we are going to do there. To say that I'm nervous... is putting it lightly. It's been three years since the last time I dated and the last relationship didn't turn out so well. I didn't want things to go south for Draal and I.

The door to my room opened and Toby entered exclaiming, "Hey, Monica! So, what are you and Draal doing tonight for your date?"

"I have no idea. Draal is surprising me." I replied.

"Oh! A surprise first date! So, who else knows about you and Draal?" Toby questioned. My eyes widened in realization. We are going to Troll market... for our first date... and we haven't told anyone besides Toby. What will the other trolls think of Draal and I's relationship? Has there ever been a troll and a human relationship before? Then, Toby waved his hand in front of my face and exclaimed, "Hello? Earth to Monica? You haven't answered my question."

"Sorry. You are the only who knows of Draal and I's relationship. I would appreciate it if you would keep it from Claire and Blinky. Draal and I would rather tell them ourselves." I answered. As for the trolls in Troll market, I guess they will find out soon enough.

"Warhammer's honor." Toby promised.

"Thank-you, Tobes." I said.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to the dentist because I get to have my braces off today!" Toby exclaimed. He left the room and I chuckled. I stood up and straightened my clothes. It was around 3:45 pm and I am supposed to meet Draal in Troll market around 5. I threw on an olive green sweater and light blue capris. I put on some light make up and threw on some black flats. I tied up my red hair into a loose bun and I was ready to go. I looked at the time and realized that I had about 30 minutes to get there.

I made my way towards Troll market and found Draal waiting for me there with the Horngazel. He stared at me for a couple moments completely speechless. He coughed and said, "You look beautiful."

I blushed and replied, "Thank-you. You look as handsome as ever. So, what do you have planned for tonight?"

"Well, the first thing that I have planned for the two of us is that I am going to get a tattoo that will demonstrate my love for you! Then, we'll go get some food at the Troll Pub." Draal explained as he led me down the crystal staircase. I raised an eyebrow at what he just said. A tattoo? Really? I mean, there's nothing wrong with tattoos, but it seemed a bit extreme for a first date. He led me down to the tattoo place and once we got there, Draal proclaimed, "You can choose what tattoo I will get!"

The troll in charge of the tattoos handed me a book with different designs. I looked through and saw a picture of a bow that was similar to the Thriskule. I pointed it out to the guy and he took the book from me. Draal sat on the chair and as the tattoo artist was gathering his supplies, I asked, "Are you really sure about this, Draal?"

"Of course I am! I am not afraid to do this!" Draal declared. The tattoo artist came back and was about to begin and I could tell that Draal was trying hard to not to panic. Before the tattoo artist began, I shouted, "Wait! No! I'm sorry that we wasted your time, sir, but I cannot let Draal do this." I grabbed Draal's arm and pulled him away before he could protest.

"Monica, what are you doing? I was just about to get a tattoo that would symbolize our new relationship." Draal protested.

"You can do that a different way, Draal. Obviously, you were not too keen on getting that tattoo otherwise I would've let the tattoo artist continue. Let's just go to the Troll Pub." I said. As we were walking there, I kept pondering on why Draal would even try to get a tattoo. He also seemed off today as well. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

We sat down at the Troll Pub waiting to order something when a troll walked up to us and asked, "Draal, what are you doing here with the Trollhunter's sister?"

Draal stood up and faced the troll, "We are trying to have dinner together since we are now courting one another. Do you have a problem with that?" Draal asked before he physically pushed the troll back, his eyes gleaming dangerously.

That's it. I stood up from my chair and shouted, "Okay, that's enough!" Draal and the troll looked over at me in alarm. I marched straight towards Draal. I looked him straight in the eye and growled, "I don't know what's gotten in to you today, but you-" I was interrupted by someone yelling, "Monica! Oh, Monica, there you are. Toby said-" I rolled my eyes and rounded on them in fury, "What is it now?" I was met face to face with Blinky who looked rather startled to see me so angry.

I took a deep breath and said, "Sorry, Blinky. You caught me at a bad time. What do you need?"

"I think I have an idea to solve our riddle, but I need your help." Blinky replied.

"Alright. I'll help you in one moment." I said. Blinky nodded, then I turned back to Draal and exclaimed, "As for you, you better have a good explanation for your behavior later or else." I exited the Troll Pub with a shocked Blinky and we went towards his library. Once we got there, I asked, "Okay, Blinky, what is this idea of yours?"

"While I was researching about the Janus order in my library, an idea came to me and I thought that we could try our luck with the internet!" Blinky exclaimed. Suddenly, an idea practically slapped itself to my face and I stated, "Wait. Strickler is a changling..."

"Yes, we've covered this matter quite sometime ago." Blinky pointed out. I ignored him and continued, "The Janus Order is an organization of changlings... so Strickler could be in league with them. We could pretend to be him while messaging one of his colleagues."

"Monica, that's brilliant, but how will we do this?" Blinky wondered.

"I... do have his number... since he was my boss..." I said while pulling out my phone. Would he even answer? Only one way to find out. I called Mr. Strickler. To my surprise, he answered, _"Good evening, Ms. Lake. I'm assuming this isn't a social call?"_

"I'm afraid not, Strickler. I need your help. We are trying to find the Janus Order." I explained.

" _And why would you be doing that? And how does that involve me?"_ Strickler wondered.

"Because, I know that you are connected to the Janus Order. We need their help to save Aaarrrgghh in order to save my brother. All we want from you is the password to your email account and who to contact." I told him.

 _"Well, well. You are in a pickle, Ms. Lake. I will give you the password and I will give you one name to contact. On two conditions."_ Strickler stated. Of course, there would be something. Blinky interjected, "And what would these conditions be?"

" _It's quite simple really, Blinkus. Don't go snooping through any of my emails and don't contact anyone else besides that name using my email."_ Strickler demanded.

"You have our word." I promised. He told us the info we needed and I said, "Thank you for your help, Strickler." I hung up the phone and turned towards Blinky, "It should be dark enough to travel back to my house and we can contact the person there."

While we were walking back to my house, Blinky asked, "So, what were you and Draal arguing about?"

My eyes widened and I silently cursed to myself. I should've known that he would ask about the argument. I would've liked to tell him with Draal by my side, but I guess that there's not much choice in keeping it a secret from Blinky any longer. I turned towards him and declared, "Well, Draal and I were on our first outing as a couple. Draal was not acting himself and I had had enough of his behavior."

Blinky stared at me for a few moments then started laughing, "You and Draal... together? Good one, Monica. You nearly had me. Okay. What was the argument really about?" I stopped walking and crossed my arms waiting for Blinky's realization to kick in. When Blinky noticed that I wasn't laughing along with him. He gasped and proclaimed, "You and Draal are courting each other? How long has this been going on?"

"Three weeks. Is there a problem with that?" I questioned.

"Uh. No, there isn't. It's just a troll and a human courting each other is not commonly heard of." Blinky explained.

"Oh. Look at that! We're here." I stated,changing the subject like a pro. I ran up to the door and opened it for him saying, "After you." Blinky realized that was the end of that conversation. We went up to my room and I logged onto my computer. I logged into Strickler's account and found the man we were looking for. Otto Scaarbach.

"Can I be the one to internet him?" Blinky begged.

I turned the computer towards him ignoring that he just said internet instead of email and stated, "Be my guest." I showed him the ropes on how to email someone and he caught on pretty quickly. We told Otto as Strickler that we needed to meet up. It didn't take long to get a response. Otto wanted to meet up tonight. I turned towards Blinky and asked, "Okay. Now what do we do?"

"Now, we need to contact Claire and Tobias. We will do a stake out and when Otto realizes he's been stood up, he will lead us back to the Janus Order." Blinky said.

"Okay. We can take my car." I said. His eyes widened with excitement and before he could ask, I said, "Fine. You can drive, but be extremely careful"

Blinky gave me a bone crushing hug and exclaimed, "Thank you, Monica!"

When Claire and Toby arrived, we set off to meet up with Otto Scaarbach.


	53. Grand Theft Otto Part I

Blinky was using the binoculars and keeping an eye on the lamppost. So far, he hadn't shown up and the others were getting impatient. Soon enough, Claire said, "We've been on this stake out forever. Do we even know who we're looking for?"

"We don't know what he looks like, but we agreed to meet him here." I explained.

"It appears Strickler corresponded with a German named Otto Scarbaach." Blinky added.

"That's his name? Might as well call him, Mr. Evil Man!" Not Enrique exclaimed. I laughed along with Blinky and Not Enrique. Not Enrique continued, "How do you know he's even gonna be here?"

"I interneted him." Blinky began and Not Enrique chuckled, "Interneted..." Then, Blinky proclaimed, "Silence, you impudent runt! Monica contacted Strickler to get one of his contacts and his email account. Strickler gave this info, but on the promise that we wouldn't look at anyone else who communicated with him and that we wouldn't go through any of his emails. So, I interneted him as Strickler asking him to meet. But, when he discovers he's been stood up, he'll lead us back to the Janus Order."

"If anyone's hungry, I got peanut brittle, popcorn, marshmallow goop, and 16 flavors of bubble gum!" Toby declared.

"Oh right! You got your braces off! Congratulations." I said.

"Thank you, Mo. I'm so glad you guys noticed!" Toby exclaimed.

Claire scoffed at Toby, then said, "I think I see, Mr. Evil Man!" Blinky and I looked and observed the man in a long coat and hat stepping into the lamppost's light. Then, Not Enrique added, "That's gotta be him."

I shushed them and Blinky told them, "Slip out quietly. One false move and we might spook him."

"Right, follow him back to the Janus Order. Piece of cake. Let's go!" Toby exclaimed. He started getting out of the car, but he tripped and fell, which caused all of his gumballs to spill out, which caused a bunch of noise, which caused Mr. Evil Man to be suspicious. We shushed Toby and he apologized, then he tripped again. Great. If he didn't hear us last time, he definitely did now because he was starting to walk away.

"We can't lose him. Monica, Blink, decide which one of you drives. Toby and I'll follow him on foot." Claire said.

Blinky gave me another look and I groaned, "Fine. You can drive."

Then, Blinky drove off and yelled, "Driving! What a pleasure!"

"Like I told you beforehand, do not damage my car!" I demanded. As Blinky, Not Enrique, and I drove around the block at a terrifying speed, we spotted Mr. Evil Man and he ran off. I noticed out of the rear view window that Claire and Toby were after him. Not long after, Claire said through the radio, " _New plan. Capture him and we'll make him talk."_ As we continued driving looking for Mr. Evil Man, we heard another message from Claire announcing, " _T.P's down, guys. But, I've got Otto heading into the alley between Meadowlark and Main."_

"Left, Blinky! Left!" I directed. Blinky turned left and Not Enrique stuck his head out of the window as if he were a dog. Blinky told Claire, "We're on Main! Heading into the alley. Let's box him in." We blocked the exit of the alley and saw Claire run up to a guy that was definitely not Otto. Great. He got away. Blinky got out of the car and Claire asked, "Where'd he go? We had him."

"This was our one shot." I said.

Toby came along not long after and panted, "I think I broke my jaw. Did we lose him? He's gone?"

"And I fear, so have our chances of finding the Janus Order, and with them, the antidote for Aaarrrgghh." Blinky said.

We all went home after that and as I reached the door of my home, I barely had my hand on the door handle when I suddenly kicked the door in rage and fell to my knees sobbing. We failed. I failed my brother again. I'm so sorry, Jim. I felt at such a loss, then I heard a voice ask, "Monica?" I turned around to see Draal. He must've come out from the back door. He looked at me with concern in his eyes and I asked harshly, "What do you want?" I was still mad and confused about the way he had been acting on our date earlier.

He looked at me and I could tell that my tone of voice had hurt him. I sat down with my back against the door and said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that so harshly. I just had a rough night."

"What happened tonight?" Draal questioned sitting next to me.

"We had a lead on an the antidote for Aaarrrgghh. The cure lies within the Janus Order. A secret society of changlings. Blinky and I contacted one of their members as Strickler to meet us tonight. Our plan was to have him either lead us into the Janus Order or capture him, but both failed. Now, we can't save Aaarrrgghh or Jim." I explained.

"I was trying to act brave." Draal suddenly said going completely off topic.

"What?" I asked.

"I was trying to act brave. I remember Jim quite a few months ago saying that human girls were the opposite of trolls and they required their significant other to be brave. So, I was trying to impress you and show you that I wasn't afraid of anything on our date." Draal explained.

"You do realize that that whole event ended horribly for Jim when he used that Grit-Shaka to act fearless, right?" I questioned. Draal looked down rather embarrassed. I smiled and put his arm around me and snuggled against him taking in his warmth. I could tell that he was a bit shocked by my action. Then, I said looking into Draal's eyes, "Girls don't always want a guy who's fearless all the time."

"Then, what do girls want? Why do you have feelings for me?" Draal questioned.

"Every girl has different tastes in what they want for their significant other. The reason why I have feelings for you is because, yes, you are brave, but you are also caring, passionate, and you want to protect the people you hold dear. These are just a few of the many things that I love about you, Draal." I explained.

"Really?" Draal questioned.

"Really." I answered.

We sat their with our arms around each other looking at the stars well into the night.


	54. Grand Theft Otto Part II

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_ I slammed my alarm clock off and looked at the time: 6:00 am. I don't what time I got to bed last night after looking at the stars with Draal. I got ready in about 45 minutes, quickly ate, and took off for school making it there by 7. Honestly, being the English teacher at Arcadia Oaks High has been quite the experience. I have learned a lot and really enjoyed my time working at this school. Once I arrived at the school, I went into the teacher's lounge.

I grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee while yawning and rubbing my eyes. I heard a voice behind me say, "Late night, Monica?" I turned around to see Miss Janeth.

"Yeah." I said.

"Did something happen to Jim? Is he still recovering well?" Miss Janeth asked.

"No, no. Jim is still recovering well. I was just... grading homework. It took forever." I explained hoping that that was convincing. Miss Janeth studied me for a moment, then questioned, "Are you hiding something, Monica?"

"No." I protested, but Miss Janeth gave me a look and I sighed and admitted, "Fine. I was actually on a date."

"Monica, that's so exciting! What's his name? What did you guys do?" Miss Janeth questioned.

"Well, his name is Draal... I mean, Drake... Drake Kanj... Drake Kanjison. We met a quite a few months back. He took me out for dinner and we just gazed at the stars afterwards." I explained.

"How romantic. Is Drake Kanjison from Arcadia Oaks?" Miss Janeth asked.

"He's from out of town. He's a friend of Patrick and Elizabeth's." I told her. I really hope that Miss Janeth doesn't run into Patrick and Elizabeth any time soon to ask them about this whole situation. The five minute bell rung and I sighed with relief knowing that I won't have to tell Miss Janeth anything else. As the two of us stood up and exited the room, Miss Janeth said, "I hope to meet him sometime soon. See you later, Monica!"

"Bye, Miss Janeth!" I called back and walked to my classroom. English didn't start until 2nd period, so I took this opportunity to plan this week and next weeks lessons. I organized all the graded papers and soon enough first period was over.

As second period arrived, I was shocked and had to contain my surprise to see Toby's new headgear. The rest of the day went alright, then I got a text around 5th period to meet Claire and Toby at sundown at the school.

After school got out, I stayed at school and worked later and decided to plan ahead for future assignments and finish grading the homework that got turned in today. Once it was sundown, I met up with Toby, Claire, and Blinky outside of the school. Toby claimed that his new head gear that he got from the dentist had a radio installed and it was picking up radio waves from the Janus Order. We couldn't get a good signal to hear it, so we had to climb up to the roof. Blinky brought a metal ear trumpet bugle horn and was trying to catch on to what Toby had heard.

We kept trying to change the channel and move Toby around, then Blinky stated, "Ooh. Wait." He listened for a moment then said, "Thirty-five... Eleven... Janus Initiative... Great Gronka Morka! Tobias, I believe your headgear is picking up the secret transmissions of the Janus Order!"

My eyes widened with excitement and Toby said, who was having trouble speaking through his new headgear, "Awesome-Sauce."

Then, the radio said something else and listened carefully, " _Where two faces meet."_

"Where two faces meet." Claire repeated.

"It could be a secret combination." Blinky suggested.

"Or lead us to a package to a book." Claire continued.

I thought about what it could be as the two debated on what those numbers mean, then Toby exclaimed, "Oh, for Pete's sake, they're coordinates that lead to place somewhere in Arcadia!" Toby exclaimed. We put in the numbers and they were indeed coordinates. We traveled to the location and saw that it had lead to a travel agency. We got out of the car and looked at the sign: _Omni Reach._

"The coordinates lead to this precise location." Blinky said.

"Travel agency? These places still exist?" Claire pondered. She walked up to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. She groaned and turned towards us, "It's locked."

Not Enrique chuckled and popped his knuckles while saying, "Locks are me specialty."

He threw a brick at the glass door and the glass shattered. We unlocked the door and stepped inside. It was small, simple office space and nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Blinky reminded us to keep quiet as we stepped over the glass. Toby started humming to song and began to dance, to which we shushed him.

"Scour the room. Look here, here, and here. This place might hold a clue to the location of the Janus order." Blinky said.

"Or land us in a jail cell for breaking and entering if we trigger a security alarm." I pointed out and chuckled as I noticed Blinky glaring at met. We looked around and Not Enrique was looking at a bookshelf and said, "Got a keen eye for these things." He climbed up to the top of the bookshelf and continued, "The secret lever is behind this one." Nothing happened and he kept trying different books.

Toby grunted as his headgear wouldn't allow him to fit through the Fletcher. Claire turned around and said, "Again with that thing?"

"My head won't fit with this thing on." Toby said.

"I'm not sticking my head in there." Claire protested.

"Fine. I'll do it." I announced growing tired of their bickering. I grabbed the Fletcher and held it for a moment. Hesitating. I was nervous to see what was down there, but I had to this... for Jim. I stuck my head inside. I was in a cave and the only light I could see was from the orange crystal spikes that blocked the exit. Still no Jim. I lifted above my head and I said, "Still no Jim."

Toby kissed the nougat nummy and stated, "Last Nougat Nummy." He threw the candy inside.

Suddenly, the phone rang and we froze wondering who it could be on the other end of the line.


End file.
